From The Ashes Comes A New Beginning
by BiteMyTongue
Summary: Things change after the Cullen's leave Bella. She comes into a destiny that will change everything. Now she has to go on a journey to becoming a leader and finding love
1. Prologue

Author's Note

To work with what I have in mind Bella would've turned 17 instead of 18 when Edward left her, so please keep that in mind when you read this. I should also warn that this story should only be 10 chapters.

Tell me what you think and I hope you enjoy!

-Page Break-

Bella gasped as the pain came again, she screamed as she fell to the ground on her knees. Her back arched as the pain coursed through her body setting her senses on fire. "PLEASE!" Bella Screamed in pain tears swelled in her eyes as the pain became too much for her to handle. She collapsed onto the forest floor below losing all consciousness.

"Isabella…" A mysterious voice said, "Open your eyes."

Bella opened her eyes and looked around, she was in a large room that was lit with candles. There was a low hum of music playing in the background she didn't understand where it could be coming from. She stood up and gasped back as she was in a white floor length dress with long lace sleeves her feet were left bare, and her hair was pinned up and decorated with flowers.

"Isabella." The voice said again, Bella looked up to where the voice came from and saw a tall older looking man standing in front of her.

"Who… who are you?" Bella said looking around frantically, the thought of being kidnapped creeping into her mind, but she had to push back the panic. "Where am I?"

"My name is Theodore I was the leader of the last tribe of Dragons, before the Great War came between us and we killed each other. As to why you are here, you're here because you're special," Theodore said he took a step forward being cautious not to startle Bella.

Bella instinctively took a step back and eyed the man before her. "What do you mean I'm special?"

"You're different from the rest," Theodore responded he stopped walking not wanting to scare her any further. "Let me start from the beginning, many years ago in my time I was the leader of the last living dragon clan. The spirits had given me the gift to transform. I was meant to be a leader to give Dragons their rightful title as rulers of the supernatural. The only problem was, I got too cocky I changed too many people in an attempt to increase the number of dragons in the world. I damned too many to this life and they began to go against me. In the end, everyone I had transformed had killed each other it was just me. I couldn't handle the guilt so I killed myself I covered my blade in my own venom and drove it through my heart. It's been centuries since the spirits have chosen me, in the last few years, the spirits have been watching you closely, and they've chosen you now. You're meant to do what I couldn't accomplish, keep the dragon name alive. Do you accept your fate Isabella, as the new ruler of the dragon species?"

Bella looked startled and shook her head in utter confusion. "What are you talking about? Dragons? Do you really expect me to be believe in all of this?"

Theodore now stood in front of Bella, his green eyes piercing into Bella's, brown eyes. "You can feel the fact that you're different can't you Isabella? It's what led you to fight against your emotions, to make sure that you didn't fall apart when one of your potential mates left. You knew you had to pull through, that others were depending on you. Your father, your mother, your friends, you couldn't fall apart because it would tear them all apart. You fought against your own emotions, just to make sure that you would be alright, so your family would be alright. You were willing to give yourself to someone twice your strength just to keep those around you safe. You don't put yourself before others, you don't make your needs your top priorities. You put others before yourself. You're too compassionate about those you care for, you're stern, yet so caring. That's why they choose you Isabella, because you have the will to fight, you have that small fire within yourself that makes you cut out to be a dragon. You have what it takes to watch over others with a caring hand while being stern enough to keep them all in line. This is your fate Isabella! You can't escape it one way or another you're meant to be a part of the supernatural world. This is your chance to be something beyond your wildest dreams."

Bella didn't know what made her answer so quickly, what had taken over and answered without a thought. "I accept. I want this." Bella's closed her eyes for a moment and thought, she meant it. She really did want this to happen.

Theodore smiled widely, "Let's begin, I must tell you everything you need to know about the dragon species."

Theodore led Bella to a table that had appeared out of the blue he gestured for her to take a seat taking the seat beside him. Bella sat down quietly ready to have Theodore tell her what she needed to know.

"All dragons have a natural control over the earth, wind/weather and most importantly the spirits. You have a natural connection to the spirits and when you wish you will be able to speak to them, but only as long as they are still trapped on this Earth. You'll also be able to compel others, it's a type of mind control, and it can bend people to your will." Theodore said as he glanced at Bella to see how she was doing with the wave of all the information. "There is only one way to die for you, you have to do as I did and kill yourself, I don't recommend it. The dragons you transform can kill each other, but they are all loyal to you, you're their alpha therefore as much as they might hate you, they will never hold the power to kill you. Hopefully you will learn from my mistakes and only transform those who want this life, for those who do not will rebel and cause a war. Give people a chance to decide their own fate."

Bella nodded, "I understand. How do I do it? How do I transform someone?"

"Transforming someone, is no easy task only you as the alpha will be able to do it. First, you must be sure that they want this life, it would be wise to give someone the decision to change. Secondly, you have to bite them on their neck and insert your venom into their veins. After that, the venom will begin to take affect and they should wake up from their transformation after 6 days." Theodore said.

Bella looked at him confused, but nodded. One thought crawled into her mind at the thought of inserting venom into someone. "Will it hurt?"

"No, it'll be like being in a coma," Theodore explained. "You'll have to go through this transformation too, but for you it might be longer than 6 days. For me it was close to 5 months to complete my transition."

"I'm going to be in a coma for months?" Bella asked not knowing how that would play out in the real world.

Theodore nodded, "In fact, it's already begun. Your transformation began the second you accepted your fate. You're in the middle of your transition as we speak. Time goes by faster in this dream state we're in."

"I'm in a coma?" Bella asked startled at the new information she was given.

Theodore nodded, "Yes, so far it's been a few days. Time goes quicker when you're in this dream like state."

Bella nodded, determined to know everything she could before time was up. "What else do I need to know?"

Theodore smiled, "There is an entirely different world out there you don't know about, Isabella. The information you need is plentiful."

"What's out there?" Bella asked curious.

"You've been around Diamonds, which is a term used to describe the second breed of vampires. They're cold as ice, hard as diamonds and they sparkle in direct sunlight, they have a sweeter scent than other creatures that's made to draw their prey in. The more traditional type of vampire can burn in the sunlight, unless they have a spelled jewelry piece. There are also shape shifters and werewolves. Let's not forget doppelgangers, witches, and hunters, whose main job is to hunt down vampires. The hunters will be able to sense the power off of you as well as other supernatural creatures be able to do the same. Then there's one hybrid, a mixture of vampire and werewolf. He has a curse suppressing his werewolf side and has yet to beak his curse, but that's another story."

Bella nodded, and sighed at the potential danger of all the creatures. "Can I kill any of them?"

"Yes, all creatures have their own ways of dying, diamonds have to be torn apart and lit on fire. Traditional have to be staked, the first of their kind the originals, they have to be staked with a special stake made of white oak. Werewolves, you can easily just rip their heart out, shape shifters can die with a snap of their necks. Witches are basically humans as are Doppelgangers and hunters, but hunters have a curse to them, kill one and you're cursed until the next one is activated," Theodore said he looked to Bella to see how she was taking in all the information. "I'm not a hundred percent sure that it will affect you, as a dragon, you bend the laws of the supernatural. Dragons were the first supernatural creatures, we were the original species therefore the strongest. I should also mention to be careful with your bite. It can transform someone if you will it to, but it can also be poisonous. You have two venoms in you, one to transform and the other can kill anyone, slowly and painfully." Theodore said.

Bella shuddered, "What if I accidently poison someone when I'm trying to transform them?"

Theodore shook his head, "You control your venom, when you're going to transform someone your mind has to be set on transforming someone. When you want to hurt someone, you have to focus and the poison will pool in your mouth. You'll be able to taste the difference the poison gives off a sour taste while the transformation venom is sweeter. The other dragons will have a variation of the poison. There's will be able to kill also, but it won't be as strong as yours. You'll be able to reverse the effects of their poison if you so wish. You simply have to suck the venom out, their poison will not have any effect on you if you do. "

"Can I just transform humans?" Bella asked after a few minutes passed.

"No, you can transform diamonds too," Theodore said, "They're transformation takes a bit longer, usually 7 to 8 days to finish their transformation completely."

"Why not the traditional type?" Bella asked.

"Diamonds retain some of their human blood in their system, it's what their venom and scent come from," Theodore said, "Traditional vampires don't retain their human blood, instead, their blood morphs and becomes vampire blood, their human blood is long gone, you need human blood in order to turn someone. Werewolves, and shape shifters don't count either, their blood is morphed it's not human. Diamonds if you ever decide to change one, will lose their vampirism and become full dragon."

Bella nodded, "Vampires, they have super speed, strength, hearing, sight, all that, will I have that too?"

"Yes, but unlike them, your body will already be accustomed to it, you won't go through an awkward stage of getting to know your strength again. That's what all this time in a coma like state is for, your body is adjusting. Any more questions, we have to continue with your training," Theodore said, before Bella could ask he continued, "I have to train you to use your gifts, to fly to know what it is to be a dragon."

"Do I have a specific diet like blood or something?" Bella asked. "Will I get older or will I stay forever 18 for the rest of my existence?"

Theodore nodded taking in her questions and trying to find the best way to answer her. "You will forever stay the way you look now, maybe some minor changes in you figure, but you won't change too much. Your body is going to rely on human food along with animals. Dragons could never stand the sight of human blood, we prefer to hunt and eat raw animals. You'll end up draining an animal and then eating their meat."

"You're telling me, I'm going to want to eat animals, like literally take a bite out of them?" Bella asked skeptically.

Theodore chuckled but nodded, "Dragons like meat. When you eat human food, you'll gravitate towards things with more meat. You don't always have to eat raw food, but your body will crave it, crave the need to hunt, it's an animalistic urge. It can get kind of messy."

Bella shuddered, "That's not gross at all."

"Anything else Isabella," Theodore asked as he saw the need to get on with their training.

Bella nodded, "The myths about Dragons they say nothing about them being men and women, they were creatures, beasts."

Theodore laughed, "It was a disguise the first dragon created. He wanted his kind to be safe. If people know too much about a creature, they learn their weaknesses, he wouldn't do that to his kind, so he created what people believe dragons to really be. In reality, they're humans, who have different colored eyes, red, black blue, white, each color pertaining to a different gift. Wings, tail and horns to match their eyes, not to mention the claws. It would be easier for humans to believe dragons were these large creatures they could hunt and kill then to know the truth that dragons walked amongst them and appeared to be humans."

Bella nodded, "What do the colors equal?"

"It's not a large difference, just a stronger connection to things, red is fire, white is for the spirits, blue is water, green is the earth, white is for magic and black is for fight. You as alpha will be able to interchange the colors to what you will connect yourself with more when you take you transformation, but the dragons you choose to change will only be connected to one. Red dragons will be connected to fire and will have more control over fire, and will be normally calmer than the rest unless provoked. White dragons will be more connected to the spirits they'll have control over magic like witches have, but won't be slaved to work for nature like witches. Blue dragons will be able to manipulate water, these dragons will be intelligent and thoughtful and by the least likely to start a fight. Black dragons will be fighters, they'll have an ease at fighting and will be likely the first to initiate a fight. You'll soon come to learn that fighting will come easy to you, your entire being is made to fight, to dominate over those who challenge you it's your alpha gene. You'll be able to see the weaknesses in others, be able to fight them without any real force." Theodore said.

"What else will this alpha gene cause me?" Bella asked tilting her head slightly at the thought.

"As Alpha, you will have a sort of spell on the dragons you create. Yes, they might leave you to travel, but you will always be able to feel them, sense them. You'll also be able to fly to them instinctively if you're needed. You should also be aware that when you fly, your body instantly goes under camouflage of your surroundings to protect you. You'll be able to punish other dragons for their wrong doings, something I wasn't too fond of, but I can't stress enough how important doing this will be. You need to show them that you're in charge and that you're their leader."

Bella nodded, she rethought everything he had told her so far, but one thing popped out in her mind. "Earlier, you said one of my potential mates, what did you mean?"

"You have 2 potential mates, but you will only choose one. You'll meet the other soon, and although you will feel a pull to each one, the one you're meant to be with will be the one your heart chooses, and with time you will turn him and he will become your equal. He will be the one to help you the one to lead beside you. He too will be able to do most things you can do. There will be some limitations that you will learn in time." Theodore said.

Bella nodded, "It's not Edward. I know that now, no one who said they loved me would just leave me."

Theodore nodded not commenting knowing Bella's heart was set. "When you find him Isabella, you'll feel the need to claim him, and after you turn him he will also claim you."

Bella groaned and rubbed her face, "Anything else I should know anything important I should be aware of?"

Theodore looked to be in though, "You'll be able to talk telepathically with the other dragons. You should also be aware that you have the power to command dragons. Force them to follow your commands if you want them too, you just have to will them to follow your orders. I used to use phrases, "I command," and "That's an order." They always worked when I wanted to have a command followed, I just rarely used it I didn't enjoy taking away someone's free will. I think that was another reason that led to my downfall, I gave my dragons too much free rein."

Bella nodded, "Give dragon's freedom, but not too much freedom, got it."

"Let's get started then." Theodore said, he looked Bella in the eyes ready to help her control the power that was now rising inside of her.

It didn't feel more than a few days until Bella began to have trouble breathing. She grabbed to her chest and fell to her knees with wide eyes she looked at Theodore. He kneeled before her, and pressed the palm of his hand to her cheek. He smiled fondly at Bella, "You'll be great, remember to fight Isabella, never give up and never forget, the spirits will be there for you shall you one day need them."

Bella nodded as her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she fell out of her coma, the last thing she saw was Theodore's prideful gaze.

Bella opened her eyes expecting to be in a hospital, instead she was laying in the middle of a four poster bed. Blinking her eyes repeatedly, she looked around the room, and sat up in her bed. She rubbed her eyes trying to get the sleep out of them, she knew she needed to see clearly before she tried to do anything.

"Well look who's finally awake, I was beginning to think that it was permanent this coma of yours love," a voice said from the corner of the room.

Bella looked at the blonde man who was sitting in the corner with a book in his lap, his piercing blue eyes boring into her own. "Where am I? Who are you?"

"You are in my home, as to who I am, well, you can call me Klaus or Nik whichever you choose," Klaus answered setting his book on the table bedside him.

Bella rubbed her head, her eye caught her wrist, the bite mark James had left long gone, "Why did you bring me here?"

"I'm a very old vampire Isabella, well, actually, I'm a very old hybrid, and well, you're my last descendant seeing as your father Charles was murdered," Klaus said.

Bella felt a pain in her heart, but Charlie had died before she underwent this transformation there was nothing she could do now. Bella sensed something off about Klaus and once she picked up his unusual scent she knew what it was. "You're the hybrid? The one who has yet to break their curse?"

Klaus looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "And how did you know that love?"

Bella sighed, "I was told in my coma." Bella clutched her head as the memories of everything seeped into her mind from her time with Theodore. "Umm you said descendant, is that true?"

Klaus nodded, "I had a different father from my other siblings. This father had a tribe, which was said to be murdered entirely by Mikael, my siblings' father, he left out my father's mother. She ran and had another family, from this family, your line was created."

Bella shook her head, "This would mean I'd have the werewolf gene. I'm not werewolf."

"My grandmother, she wasn't werewolf blood, just a regular human, and no one in your line has the werewolf gene, I would say you're a regular human, but it doesn't feel that way. You're not werewolf, but you are something else." Klaus said eyeing Bella from his spot in the room.

"Dragon," Bella uttered, "I'm a dragon."

Klaus chuckled, "Dragons went extinct centuries ago Isabella."

Bella nodded, "They did, their last alpha was named Theodore he came to me in my coma. The dragon spirits, they've chosen me to be the next dragon leader. To create the next dragon species."

Klaus laughed, "Now, how hard did you hit you head love? You've been out for about to 6 months now, I think you're beginning to imagine things."

Bella shook her head, "Whoa 6 months really? I didn't hit my head at all, I'm serious about this Nik, I'm the next alpha dragon."

Klaus shrugged at Bella, he stood on the foot of the bed, he put his hands in the air, "Alright love, prove it!"

Bella nodded and stood out of the bed, her legs wobbled as they were slight limp from not walking in months, but she recovered she closed her eyes, and willed her body to change. She screamed in pain and fell to her knees, as there was something that was tearing her back apart. She heard Klaus walking towards her but she held her hand up stopping him in his tracks, she forced herself to stand and as she did a pair of multi-colored wings popped out. They knocked the table over, and tore apart the bed sheet with the claws. Bella screamed again as a matching tail and horns appeared, she couldn't see it, but her eyes had turned the same way. She spread her hands out, and looked at Klaus, "I believe the words, I told you so seem to be in order." Bella smiled, "Do you think I have fangs?" Bella focused again and winced back in pain as dozens of razor shop teeth took the place of her old teeth. Bella licked along her teeth, she winced back as they cut her tongue, but it healed instantly.

"Alright love, I believe you, go back to the way you were before," Klaus said motioning for Bella to change back, he turned around seeing as her pajamas ad been torn to shreds. He walked to the closet he had set up for her in the hope she did eventually regain consciousness. His witch had stated that Bella was just in a supernatural coma, he had merely thought it to be something that had to do with the now disappeared bite mark on her wrist.

Bella smiled, as Klaus tossed her a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, "Thanks, so now that we got that out of the way. I'm Bella not Isabella." Bella looked into the mirror and noticed that she still had two fang like teeth in place, she smiled as they looked like a miniature pair of vampire fangs.

"Bella, what happened six months ago, and what happened to the diamond bite mark you had on your wrist," Klaus asked.

Bella sighed, if six months had passed it would now be July, "Umm, well as you already know Charlie died, he was attacked trying to protect me from a diamond that wanted revenge on my. She claimed it was a mate for a mate. A tribe of shape shifters down at La push were protecting Charlie ad I, up until the day Charlie died. One of their pack was new, and he was being cocky, Victoria attacked and she injured him so badly he was seconds away from death, but he miraculously made it through. After that the pack stated we were too much of a risk, and that if they had to protect their own kind first, so they stopped patrolling around my house and stopped watching over Charlie. Victoria took notice and well, she attacked Charlie it was the best she could do to get to me. She began teasing me, getting close but never close enough to hurt me just torture me with fear. I went into the woods a couple of weeks after Charlie's death, I was tired, and I figured if she wanted me fine, but I was at least going to do it on my own terms, and I was going to die trying to kill her. I was going to give her what she wanted before she hurt anyone else on my behalf. My plan was to burn her, but before I could this blinding pain hit me and the last thing I remember was falling to the ground. I'm guessing you found me there."

"That doesn't explain the bite mark on your wrist love," Klaus said, "But, we'll get back to that. The diamond you're talking about Victoria, did she have red hair?"

Bella nodded, "Yeah she did, how did you know that?"

"Because I killed her, she didn't seem too happy to see you unconscious, she was about to snap your neck when I arrived. I didn't like someone who shared my blood to be used as some sort of toy, so I killed her, made it extra painful just for you love."

Bella smiled, "Thanks I guess, so umm how did you know where to find me?"

Klaus smirked and walked forward, he took Bella's hand, he pointed to an old silver ring with a small red ruby on it, "I found out about you and your father several years ago, you were no older than 8 I believe. This ring, I charmed it, it would notify me if you were hurt severely. It started ringing the day before I found you. I was only a few hours away so I drove. I gave this ring to your father and compelled him to give it to you claiming it was an old family heirloom."

Bella looked at the ring, "Huh, I always thought it was a family heirloom, so you cared enough to watch over me since I was younger?"

Klaus nodded, "We've actually met before. You were about 9 I believe, you told me I looked like your grandfather, and then you gave me a lollipop and walked off."

Bella laughed, "I don't even remember that. Why didn't you ever come out of the dark so to speak? Why didn't you ever introduce yourself?"

"Your safety, I'm a much hated individual Bella, if anyone were to figure out I had a weak spot in a little girl, they'd use you against me. I couldn't have that, so I stayed away occasionally coming to check on you when I felt there was no danger lurking behind the shadows." Klaus said.

"Why did you give me this ring, but not Charlie," Bella asked as she began to toy with the ring.

Klaus shrugged, "I felt more attached to you than to your father. Your father could take care of himself, you on the other hand were being shipped off from parent to parent. You had an unstable growing environment, and while I couldn't take you away from your parents, I opted to finding a way that if you ever needed me, I would know."

"How does it work, I mean how do you get the signal," Bella asked looking at the ring and back to Klaus.

Klaus showed her the necklace he always wore, it was a simple silver chain, but at the bottom was a dagger looking pendant, at the tip of the dagger was a blood drop shaped ruby that matched Bella's rub ring. "This lights up."

"Does it work both ways," Bella asked with a curious tilt of her head as she looked the necklace.

"Essentially yes, but I'm never in enough pain for it to work so I doubt you'll ever see it light up," Klaus said.

Bella nodded, "Thank you."

"You're very much welcome Bella," Klaus said with a rare smile, "So, tell me about how you got that bite on your arm."


	2. Family

Bella sighed it had only been two years with Klaus, but she finally had the father figure she always craved for in him. It also wasn't one sided Klaus felt the same. He had found a daughter in Bella, someone he could advise and look after. Someone who accepted his help and guidance without question. Bella would refer to Klaus as her father when asked about their relationship, it was how she saw him. She loved Charlie, but he wasn't the father figure she wanted, but Nik was. In Nik, she could trust him to look after her if she ever needed, they could trust that they would always be loyal to one another. Bella smiled and threw herself on the couch in Klaus's study and let out an exasperated sigh.

Klaus smiled slightly at seeing Bella's attempt to get his attention, he flipped the page in his book. "That's very un-lady like sweetheart, a lady should sit down with more grace and less of whatever you just did."

Bella laughed, "If I had been lady like I wouldn't have caught your attention now would I?"

Klaus looked up from his book, he set it down as he saw Bella had the look that she really did need to talk. "Alright sweetheart, what do you want my attention for?"

"Trevor is turning 17 tomorrow and well, he asked me to change him," Bella said she was waiting for Klaus's argument, but when none came she continued to speak. "He's my best friend, and I thought I should probably start creating dragons, you know do what I was destined to do."

Klaus nodded and picked up his book getting to the page he had just left off of. "Trevor is a nice boy, he'll be a good start. He's welcome to stay here if he wishes to."

Bella's mouth fell open, she had an entire speech planned out to win him over. She was independent and didn't need his approval, but she liked knowing Klaus was on her side.

"Close your mouth sweetheart, you're beginning to catch flies," Klaus said with a smirk seeing that he had completely startled Bella.

"Sorry papa Nikki, I was just expecting more of a fight," Bella said, she smiled as Klaus glared at her, she knew there was no real hate behind the glare, well except hate for the name Nikki.

"You know you don't need my approval for anything you do Bella," Klaus replied looking at her.

Bella nodded, "I know, but I like knowing you agree with me. I like knowing that you don't think what I'm doing is stupid. I'm supposed to be this great leader to an entire species, and meant to help them, but I like knowing I have you to help me when I need it. This was just something I couldn't decide on. I've known Trev for a year, but I didn't know if he really knew what he was getting himself into, and it's a bit scary to be honest, this will be the first time I ever change someone into a dragon."

Klaus nodded, "You're a very intelligent person Bella, if you decide upon something I know you're doing what you have to do. You tend to overthink things, so I know you've most likely spent the last few days thinking this over. Change Trevor, he's a good person, and is the best candidate to become your first dragon."

Bella nodded, and stood up, she walked over to Klaus and sat at the edge of his desk, "So what are you up to today Papa Nikki?"

"Trying to figure out a way to get you to stop using that god awful name you insist on calling me," Klaus replied he put his book down and pulled out a vanilla folder. "Come on sweetheart, you and I need to go the bank."

Bella's perfect eyebrow rose in question, "The bank? And what might I ask are we going to the bank for?"

"You'll see when we get there," Klaus said he grabbed his jacket off the chair and walked to the door, he opened it and motioned for Bella to go out first.

"Fine pops, but you're taking me out to hunt afterwards, I could really use some food," Bella said as she grinned making sure to flaunt her sharp teeth.

"It's not my fault you went through all the cows I got for you," Klaus said with a shake of his head at the memory. Bella was like a new vampire her hunger was always there and never truly went away. If she didn't feed every week she got angry and desperate seeking any food she could find to fill her hunger. It was why Klaus often voted against her getting a dog, he didn't want to see her guilty face if she one day lost control and ate him. Yes, most animals were willing to die by Bella's hands, but he knew she would feel guilty either way.

"You got like 5, we both knew those would only last for at least a month," Bella said with a grin, "And they were so willing to go!"

Klaus chuckled, "If you would've given them another month they would've mated and started having offspring continuing your food source."

Bella laughed at the idea. "I have no patience, I do believe that's a trait I get from you dad."

Klaus chuckled, but continue to lead Bella to the car. It always brought a smile to his face when Bella referred to him as her father.

-Page Break-

"Nik, Nik please," Bella pleaded, "You don't have to do this."

Klaus smiled at Bella and her childish attitude. "You should know by now sweetheart, I don't do anything I don't want to do, and when I want something I get it."

Bella laughed, but relented to his wishes, she took the pen and signed the last paper, and handed it back to the front desk lady.

"There we go, you're both set with linked accounts," She said as she made the final clicks on her computer.

Klaus nodded while Bella thanked the lady for her help. They walked out of the bank together. Klaus had handed over several of his homes into Bella's name, along with a bank account that was connected directly to his personal one.

"You didn't have to do that," Bella said as they walked back to the car.

"Let it go sweetheart, it's said and done," Klaus said. Bella sighed and got into the car. Klaus drove to an old farm, the fields were loaded with cows, and some elk. It was often that Bella would come here and eat a few cows or elk, the owner would believe it was a stray wolf and just build up his fencing.

Bella saw a bull, she locked eyes with it, "Sorry, but I need to feed." She lunged knocking the bull over, she bit into its neck and began to feed. She drained him of his blood first before she began to take bites out of him. She practically moaned at the taste of the bull in her mouth, she hadn't realized how starving she was.

Klaus chuckled as Bella came back to the car were he was waiting. Like all her hunts, she was soaked in blood. "You always look like you came out of a horror movie after you hunt. You should work on your feeding strategy sweetheart."

Bella laughed, and looked down at her clothes with a shrug. "Yeah, I guess I could work on it, but I was just so hungry dad. You wouldn't believe how hungry I was, I couldn't help but make a small mess."

Klaus laughed, he took off his jacket and handed it to Bella, "Here. Put this on we don't want people to think you just went on a large killing spree."

Bella smiled and put on the jacket, she zipped it up to cover up her stained shirt she wiped her face with the handkerchief Klaus handed her. "Can we pass by and pick up Trevor? I want to change him."

Klaus nodded and started the car. He drove to the foster home in which Trevor lived in, "Want me to go and get him?" Klaus asked Bella as he thought Bella wouldn't want to startle the humans with her blood soaked clothes.

Bella nodded, "Can you, please? I can't go in looking like I just killed someone."

Klaus left and disappeared inside the house. Bella couldn't hear exactly what was going on inside the house, but could tell Klaus was compelling someone. After several minutes Klaus came out holding a small suitcase, Trevor directly behind him a large beam on his face, he waved to Bella happily at seeing her again. Klaus put the suitcase in the back as Trevor got into the back seat.

"Get into a feeding frenzy?" Trevor asked Bella as he knew there had to be a good reason she didn't go inside herself. He got into the car and close the door behind him. To Trevor Bella was more than a friend she was his protector, the one person who made living bearable for him. She was like the older sister he'd always wanted, but never got a chance to have.

Bella turned and smiled at him, "Yeah, it was a bit of a mess, I hadn't eaten fresh meat in a while, I couldn't help but be a bit messy." Her face turned serious as she asked an important question. "Are you sure about this Trev?"

Trevor nodded, "Think of it as a birthday gift. I can't live this life anymore Izzy, I need a fresh start."

Bella nodded, she smiled and turned to face the front. She couldn't hide it, she was nervous. This was her first change, but this was also Trevor. He was the one person beside Klaus she's been able to think of as family, he was whom Bella felt the most protective over.

-Page Break-

"What if I messed something up and he's slowly dying," Bella said as she paced she looked over at Nik her eyes were filled with worry.

"You did everything the way you were supposed to, he'll be fine." Klaus said he patted the seat next to him, "Come sit down."

Bella sighed and sat down beside him, she took a pillow and put it in his lap. She rested her head on his lap and sighed, "Tell me about your human days."

"As you know, we moved here from England after the eldest child died from an illness. Mikael and my mother were persuaded to come here by an old women claiming the new land was filled with health the illness would not kill Esther's children there. They came not long after receiving the advice. At the time we first arrive my mother gave birth to Finn, and then Elijah a year later. My mother went visiting a nearby village to buy some supplies and while there she met my father. I don't know much about him, but from what I was able to gather he and my mother had a short indiscretion. One in which created me, making me part werewolf. The youngest of our family was Henrik, he died at a very young age. You tend to remind me of him from time to time." Bella smiled and looked at Klaus.

"I do?" Bella asked with curiosity. "I guess we both just have that irresistible charm."

Klaus smiled, "Don't be a brat. Want me to finish?"

"Yes, yes please do go on," Bella said as she closed her eyes and got back to listening.

"Henrik was very curious, and one night he begged me to take him to see the creatures of the moon. Knowing that I had nothing to lose as Mikael would beat me no matter what I did, I took him. Only Henrik wandered off on his own, he was too curious for his own good at times. He went up against one of the wolves. I was able to kill the wolf, but it wasn't in time to save my brother. Henrik had too many wounds to his chest that by the time I got him back into town he was gone. Mikael and my mother argued constantly after that, but they continued to persuade us to live on. Elijah and I, we both fell in love with the same girl her name was Tatia. It didn't matter to us that she had already had a child out of wedlock, we still loved her. She loved us both, but wasn't willing to choose between us. One night, our parents woke Rebekah and me in the dawn of the night. They made us drink from a cup that my mother had enchanted. After that Mikael killed me and then killed Rebekah. I woke first from the change, and then Rebekah awoke moments later. I was the first vampire to be created, Rebekah was next. After us followed Kol, Finn Elijah, and Mikael was last to change. It wasn't long after our change that we began to feel the side effects of the spell. The lust for blood grew stronger and we began to kill more, but nature fought back. It prevented us from walking in the sun, a small plant could harm us, and a tree could kill us. I had accidently killed a man after feeding, by his death I triggered the werewolf curse, and I changed in front of Mikael and Elijah. Mikael confronted my mother and she revealed the truth to him. Ashamed and embarrassed Mikael went after my father's pack. He killed them all unknowingly starting a war between species. Not long after Mikael and my mother had the curse placed on me to restrain my werewolf side. They killed Tatia to get back at me for killing a man." Klaus said, he was about to continue when Bella interrupted.

"Where were Rebekah, Elijah, Kol, and Finn when you were being cursed?" Bella asked angry none of them had bothered to help him.

Klaus shook his head, "Rebekah, Kol and Finn didn't know what was going on, but Elijah knew exactly what was takin place. He helped Mikael contain me so they could place the spell on me. After the spell was done, in anger for killing the woman I loved and restraining a part of myself, I ripped my mother's heart out and blamed her death on Mikael. I feared that if my siblings discovered the truth, they would leave me. You're the only one who knows that."

"I don't blame you for it," Bella whispered, "After what she did… I don't blame you for killing her."

Klaus sighed and relaxed, he stayed silent going over his times as a human. He soon heard Bella's breathing even out signaling she had fallen asleep. He smiled, it amazed him sometimes how calm and relaxed Bella was around him. It was refreshing to know that for once, he wasn't the monster in someone's eyes. Seeing it was close to 3 in the morning, Klaus carried Bella and she placed her on the same bed as Trevor knowing she wouldn't want to be away from him while he was going through the change. He sat her on the bed and threw a blanket over her to make sure she would stay warm. He exited the room heading to his, it would be a few more days until Trevor came back as a full dragon and until then he could expect a very worried Bella.

-6 Days Later-

Bella paced the room, it was almost time, for Trevor to wake up. "Do you think it hurt him?"

"No, it's like a sleep, he's probably just been dreaming," Klaus responded as he tried to calm down Bella. "He probably won't even know that he was out for six days."

Bella nodded she looked to Trevor and back to Klaus, "I'm scared."

"He'll be fine," Klaus said thinking Bella was speaking of Trevor.

Bella shook her head, "Not that dad, about everything. What if something happens to you? Or to Trev? What if I can't do this? What if I turn too many, or if I don't turn enough?"

Klaus chuckled, Bella turned to him with a glare. "The future isn't something that you can predict Isabella. Your fears are silly, you were chosen for a reason. You're a great leader and I have no doubt you'll fulfil your destiny just fine."

Bella sighed and nodded. She perked up as Trevor woke up he sat up on the bed and looked around, his eyes adjusting to the light of the room. "Izzy?"

"Trev," Bella sighed in relief, "How are you feeling?"

"Different, really different," At her confused face Trevor continued, "But it's good. I wanted this Izzy. I chose this life."

Bella smiled and opened her arms, "Can I at least get a hug? I mean, I've been having a panic attack for the last six days."

Trevor hugged Bella, but pulled back, "I'm really hungry."

Klaus chuckled from the doorway, "The shipment just arrived, you're prey is waiting for you out back."

Bella grinned, she took Trevor's hand and led him out of the room thanking Nik as she ran out. She showed Trevor how to feed, and what tastes the best. In the end, they had killed 4 cows, 1 Bull, and 2 elk. Trevor had made more of a mess than Bella had. Klaus chuckled as he watched the two, Bella was showing Trevor how to clean up and make it look like a wolf attack.

-A while later-

Bella hugged Klaus tightly, "I love you dad. Don't forget about me."

Klaus chuckled, "I'm leaving for your safety, Sweetheart. I will be in contact with you, I just won't be with you all the time."

Bella nodded, she wiped away a few tears that escaped, "Okay. I'll see you soon papa Nikki."

Niklaus laughed at the name, he kissed Bella's forehead and stepped back. Trevor had left to give the two space to say their goodbyes. "You'll be fine Isabella, I'm not the only family you have anymore."

"It doesn't matter, you're still my dad," Bella hugged him again. She waved at him as he got into his car and drove off. Bella felt two arms wrap around her, knowing it was Trevor she hugged him tightly.

"Elijah was getting too close," Trevor said, "He wanted to protect you and protect Elijah from your wrath."

Bella chuckled lightly, it was true she'd probably be the first to take a poisonous bite into Elijah. "Come on, let's pack up. We're moving to Texas!"

Trevor smiled, "Think I can be a cowboy?"

Bella shrugged, "If we get you a southern twang maybe, but we'd have to work on it." She missed Nik, more so than she missed Charlie or Renee. Nik had cared for her like a father, and now she was without her parental figure. She figured this was how it felt for human girls when they moved out of home.

"I don't know, I think I could do it," Trevor said attempting to pull off a southern accent.

Bella laughed and shook her head, "Oh that's so not possible. Try something else, because being a cowboy is so not in your future anytime soon."

"Damn! I was really hoping for it too," Trevor joked with a grin, "So are we attending high school again?"

"No, I don't think I could do that again, how about we open a store or something," Bella said with a grin.

"We could be butchers," Trevor said, "We certainly have the appetites for it."

"No, we'd go bankrupt from eating all the meat," Bella replied. She had to look on the Brightside of things she was with Trevor, and now she was starting to re-create the dragon species. This was only the beginning in her adventures.

-Awhile Later-

The young blonde girl smiled sadistically at her kidnapper, "You're fucking dead."

The man only laughed, he turned to the girl and grinned, he flashed a knife in front of her face. "I'm a very old vampire, you couldn't do anything to me in the state you're in. So, why don't you just stay perfectly still so I can cut you up and see your insides."

The girl was too weak only being a month old she wasn't as strong as the others, but she knew Isabella would sense her pain. The girl smiled despite the pain, she was cut in various places and was bleeding out profoundly and she needed to hunt to regain any of her strength. "Sorry buddy, but you signed your death sentence the moment you came for me."

The man only laughed again, "In my time, women like you would be killed for speaking to a man like that."

"Then you really won't like what I have to say," A voice said from the top of the stairs, the sound of heels clicking as they came down the steps echoed throughout the room.

"Who the hell are you?" The vampire asked, "How did you get in?"

"I used the front door," the voice said the person stepped into the light. A pair of bat like wings spread out behind her a pair of horns visible at the top of her head as she walked towards the man, a long thick tail moving as the girl walked.

"Isabella," the young blonde sighed as she knew she was safe now.

Bella's eyes turned to look at the girl, a wave of fury swept through her as she caught sight of the cuts and the large amount of blood on the floor. She looked back at the vampire, "Tsk Tsk, you picked the wrong girl to go after." Bella lunged pinning the vampire to the wall, her fangs appeared and poison pooled in her mouth. She sunk her fangs into the vampire's neck pouring a large amount of poison into his body. She dropped him to the floor as he began screaming as the venom was beginning to take it's affect. "No one messes with a Balaur." Bella blurred over to the girl, she carefully took off all the equipment strapped onto the girl and helped her to stand. "Oh Melanie, you're going to have to hunt." Bella quickly swept the young girl up in her arms and walked out of the basement with her ignoring the screaming man on the floor.

"I knew you'd come," Melanie whispered as she relaxed into Bella's hold knowing nothing could harm her anymore.

Bella handed her over to another Dragon by the name of Sean as he approached. "I want you to take her to hunt, after that I want you to report back to the main house, she needs to rest."

"Of course," The dragon said, he quickly blurred away from the house.

Bella's wings and tail disappeared and her fangs retracted, her horns still present. She looked around the house. "Did you find anything Trevor?" She asked as she heard him coming closer.

"Not much, but this guy knew what we were. He's been tracking us," Trevor said coming into the room with a stack of documents in his hands. "Apparently, he wanted to figure out what we were and our weaknesses. He guessed like vampires, we were at our most vulnerable state when feeding. He was tracking Melanie the most." Trevor handed Bella a folder filled with photographs of Melanie. "He knew she was the youngest, he followed her into the woods and when she was alone he made his move. It looks like he shot her 24 times with a gun, after that he had her in an enough of a weaken state to strap her into some sort of cage where he stabbed her multiple times to keep her from healing. Than he drove all the way here to Alaska figuring we wouldn't find them here. He strapped her to that chair in the basement, every 30 minutes it would automatically stab her to keep her bleeding and to keep her from growing strong. He needed her weak so he could umm.. so he could open her up and test her."

Bella shook her head and cringed, "How'd you get all this information?"

"The sick bastard recorded it all," Trevor said handing over the tape recorder, "I think he found a real weakness."

Bella looked at Trevor, "What is it?"

"It's called Saint Helena Olive. It was supposed to have gone extinct several years ago, but apparently this guy managed to keep one alive. I don't think this guy even knew it was a weakness to dragons when he was keeping it alive. In his notes it said he mixed it into his tea every day, he liked the taste apparently. By accident the tea spilled over and landed on Melanie, causing the same affect vampires have to vervain." Trevor said scanning over the notes as he spoke.

Bella nodded, "Burn the notes that talk about the plant along with whatever is left the plant. No one should know about this. Is that clear?"

Trevor nodded and took the notes that mentioned the plant with him "I think you're immune to its affects."

"What gives you that idea," Bella asked meeting Trevor's gaze before he left the room.

"This guy has been consuming this plant for years, if you bit him one drop of his blood had to at least make it into your mouth. You would've burned if it would have an effect on you. I think you being Alpha makes you immune to it," Trevor said as he tore apart the papers.

Bella nodded, "Not a word to anyone Trev. This stays between you and me."

Trevor nodded, "I'm going to go burn this next to the body. I'll burn the plant next."

Bella nodded, she looked around the home there was nothing else they needed from here. Few moments later Trevor appeared again. "The plant has gone up in flames, it should burn the house down with it."

"Good, we don't need to make this seem like a murder. Fly back to the house and check on the others. I'll stay behind and make sure this place burns completely. I don't want any chance anyone will be able to find out about our weakness." Bella said.

Trevor nodded, "This wasn't your fault Izzy." He knew Bella like the back of her hand and right now he could tell she was blaming herself. "Melanie choose to go against our precautions and left while she was still young. She'll learn from her mistakes."

Bella smiled and took Trevor's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze of appreciation, "I know this wasn't my fault, I warned her of what going out on her own at such a young stage would cause, but she was naïve. She's received enough punishment, but she'll have to learn a warning is a warning. She'll stay with Sean and his boys for the time being. She'll be free to leave after she's a few months older and has some experience."

It had only been a year and a half since Trevor was turned, but the dragon race was growing. Currently there were 12, excluding Bella. They had broken up into three different groups. It was Bella and Trevor always together, and then Sean who was in charge of 5 boys, and now Melanie. His group consisted of himself at 19 as a black dragon, Mathew at 17 who was a red dragon, Skylar at 18 was a black dragon, Steven at 19 was a red dragon and the youngest Spencer at 16 was a white dragon. Melanie only being 18 and a red dragon would fit in with them better than the other group which consisted of a bit older dragons. There was Stephanie at 24 she was a white dragon. Lily at 25 who was a blue dragon, William at 25 was a blue dragon, Alexander at 23 was a white dragon, and Adam at 22 was a red dragon. Bella made it a rule to never change a person over 25. Each person she turned was either close to death or those who were alone. She gave them all a family and a place to feel welcomed in. It wasn't strange to her that the older ones stuck together, they were more mature, the older ones living in California where all attending college or had jobs. The younger ones usually stayed close to Bella, if she were in Dallas, Texas, they'd be in Austin. All of them were grateful to be turned, to be given a second chance at a new life.

Trevor flew into the sky heading back to their temporarily home in Colorado, he was sure Sean and his boys would be there with Melanie. Bella watched as the house turned to flames, she heard approaching footsteps and leaped into one of the trees hiding herself from view of others. Her heart stopped as she recognized them, the Cullen's. Her eyes landed on Edward's darkened form, a wave of anger and hurt hit her. She felt as if she couldn't breathe, she saw the last of the house crumble and she couldn't take it anymore. She took off, she flew to someone she trusted with her life, if she went to Trevor she'd have to deal with the other dragons, she didn't want to have to do that yet. She flew to Las Vegas landing in front of an expensive condo, she knocked repeatedly and took in a few breaths to try and calm herself.

"Can I help you?" A tall dark haired vampire said.

Bella sighed, "I came to speak to my dad, tell him I'm here."

Klaus appeared immediately after the word dad was uttered, "Isabella?"

Bella rushed and hugged him tightly, she didn't say a word as Klaus led her inside. "There was in incident with one of the younger dragons. We had to rescue her and we ended up in Alaska. We burnt down any evidence and I had stayed to make sure that it was completely gone. I saw them, the Cullen's and I saw _him_. I was so angry and hurt, but I couldn't help but still care about him. I won't be able to get over him until I meet my other mate, and that scares me. I know I hate Edward, but I still love him and it hurts so much."

Klaus nodded and rubbed Bella's back, "The only true way to completely move on from one person is to love another. Just give it time Isabella."

Bella nodded and sighed, "I'm at 12 dragons now we're growing."

"That's good to hear, sweetheart," Klaus said.

Bella stayed in Las Vegas for another hour until she had to go back, "I'll check in later, dad."

Klaus nodded, he tenderly kissed Bella's forehead, "Everything will always turn out okay in the end. Remember that."

Bella nodded she gave him a final hug before leaving. She headed back to her home in Colorado she knew all the dragons would be there. This was an emergency, and when something happened to one of them they all came to assist.

Bella arrived and entered the large mansion like home. She entered the living every dragon stood immediately at her presence. Bella motioned them to sit, "We have spent the last day hunting down one of our own, and do you all know why?" No one spoke so Bella continued, "We are weak on our own. I let you all make your own decisions, I let you live your lives, but it seems that is starting to cause a bit of a problem. No more wandering on your own, you want to go to a new place you take another dragon with you. We might be powerful creatures, but you should all know like every other creature we have our weaknesses. From now on, no dragon is allowed to live on their own we all must be living with at least one other dragon at any given time. Those who go against this will be punished, are we clear?"

"Of course Isabella," the Dragons said at the same time.

Bella nodded, "Where's Melanie?"

"She's sleeping upstairs," Sean said, "She's agreed to stay with us."

Bella nodded, "Good, thank you all of you for coming to look for her."

"She's one of our own," William said, "We don't abandoned our own kind in a time of need."

Bella smiled as there were murmurs of agreement, till this day she didn't have to punish anyone, but seeing all the dragons together under one roof made her grin. Unlike Werewolves or vampires, they stuck together, they dropped everything to help look for Melanie. This was what Bella thought the dragon spirits had wanted, a family of dragons not just a species but something more something stronger.

"Why don't I order us something to eat," Bella suggested.

"Oh, I could go for some steaks," Lily said as she sat between William's legs, both dragons being turned at the same time as they were a couple. William being seconds from dying had asked to be turned, not wanting to live without him Lily begged to be turned too. They were the first mated couple in the group.

Alexander nodded in agreement, he was the one Bella was close to besides Trevor, he was her third turn only a few weeks after Sean had been turned. Her first three where her closest friends and her three leaders. Sean leading one group and Alexander another, Trevor was her second in command. "I really could use a steak, I've been craving one for weeks."

Bella smiled, "Why don't you guys light up the bon fire, we'll do this all out."

Everyone left, the girls heading out to the store to buy the steaks and the supplies for s'mores. The boys starting the fire and setting up the backyard for a night spent outdoors. Bella stayed behind and just watched them all work together.

Trevor left the boys and walked up to Bella and looped an arm over her shoulder, "So what happened?"

"I saw the Cullen's," Bella replied that was all Trevor needed to know he held Bella tighter showing his silent support. None of the other dragons knew of the Cullen's only Trevor. "I went to speak with my dad. He always seems to know what to say to me, and I missed him." Klaus wasn't a secret most of the Dragons had already met heard of him. Thanks to the occasional visit the lucky few who met him had gotten along with him well.

"How are you doing?" Trevor asked concerned.

Bella smiled up at him, "I'm fine. I just, I think it's time we leave, start somewhere fresh, we changed Melanie here so we'll have to move again to cover our tracks. I was thinking of a small town somewhere we could hide away for a while. I was thinking Mystic Falls, I'm feeling drawn there, and I'd like to go and check it out."

"You know I'd go anywhere you went Izzy," Trevor said with a grin.

Bella smiled, as she heard the faint footsteps of Melanie coming down the stairs. Bella motioned for Trevor to leave. "I warned you leaving on your own was dangerous."

"I know, I just… I've wanted freedom all my life I wanted to get out there," Melanie said, "I'm sorry for any trouble I caused you Isabella."

Bella nodded, "Do you see all those people out there?" Bella said pointing to everyone in the backyard.

Melanie nodded, "Yes, Isabella."

"All these people dropped everything to come to look for you," Bella said, "All of them care about you Melanie. Becoming a dragon doesn't only mean becoming a supernatural creature, it means becoming a part of a family. You along with anyone else is never allowed to go off on their own anymore. You have to be accompanied by another dragon. Is that clear Melanie?"

"Of course, Isabella," Melanie said she looked at Bella with fearful eyes. "Am I going to be punished?"

Bella shook her head, "You've been punished enough."

"Mind if I hug you?" Melanie asked.

Bella laughed, "Of course not." Bella gave Melanie a hug and told her to go enjoy herself outside with the others.


	3. Mate

Author's Note

Jeremy! We're getting to the good part! I'm so excited for what's to come!

Tell me what you think, and I hope you enjoy!

-Page Break-

Jeremy watched from his window as a large black SUV pulled into the neighboring house. He was intrigued as a boy came out of the passenger seat being soon followed by a gorgeous girl in the driver's seat. She smiled at the boy and said something that Jeremy couldn't hear from the inside his room. He watched as they opened the back of the truck to reveal several boxes. The girl smiled and laughed as the boy had said something to her playfully pushing her as he moved to get a box. Jeremy felt a ping of anger in him as he watched the interaction between them. Deciding to meet the new neighbors before he had to leave for school he quickly gathered his clothes to get dressed.

"So, why did we get this place?" Trevor asked Bella as he picked up two boxes stacked on top of each other.

"Because our real home isn't done being renovated quite yet," Bella said as she grabbed a few boxes she would've gotten more, but in the pretense of looking human she voted against it. "It's a large plot of land with two houses and a guest house. All three of which needed to be renovated, they weren't up to my standards. They just need a lot of touch ups before they're safe enough to live in."

"Why so many houses? I mean I get that your dad would need one, but all of us could fit in one house." Trevor responded as he and Bella walked inside the house their arms filled with the boxes.

"It was a foreclosure, so I thought it was worth it," Bella said, "And the real estate agent wouldn't let me buy just one house I had to buy all three. I might've also compelled her to throw in this house as a part of the deal. We were going to need a place to stay while we wait for the other houses to finish being renovated."

Trevor smiled and set the boxes down in the living room as Bella did the same. "So, any idea what you felt here? I mean what could've drawn you to this sad little town."

Bella shrugged, "Don't know but it's a nice enough town, or so it seems. I haven't been in a small town since Forks, I think I can get used to living here." Trevor smiled and headed back outside while Bella used her super speed to unpack the boxes. They had to act like humans carrying them in, but inside their home they could do things the quicker way.

"Hey, I'm Jeremy." Jeremy introduced himself to Trevor just as Trevor reached the SUV.

Trevor smiled and shook Jeremy's hand, "I'm Trevor Balaur. My sister and I just moved into town."

Jeremy didn't notice he had sighed in relief in hearing that they were only siblings. He smiled at Trevor no longer feeling any anger towards the boy. "You guys moved here by yourselves?"

"Yeah, our parents passed away and before we could get placed in foster homes, we got emancipated," Trevor explained as he grabbed a box from the car this time only grabbing one to look more normal.

"Here, let me help you man. I live right next door," Jeremy said as he grabbed the last box, he noticed they didn't seem to have a lot with them.

"Thanks," Trevor replied as he saw Jeremy lift up a box from the corner of his eye. "I'll introduce you to my sister, she's inside unpacking things."

Trevor led Jeremy inside making sure to make his footsteps loud so Bella was sure to pay attention and catch Jeremy's footsteps. He didn't want Jeremy to catch her moving around at super speed. "Hey, Izzy!"

"In here!" Bella shouted back to Trevor from the kitchen. Making sure to shout loud enough that it seemed believable, with their super hearing shouting was rarely ever necessary.

"Just put them down here," Trevor said to Jeremy as he set his box on the floor in the living room. Jeremy did the same as Trevor and set the box down silently following Trevor into the kitchen. Trevor saw Bella under the sink no doubt she was trying to fix something that had caught her attention. "Hey, Izzy, I think you should meet someone." Bella came out from under the sink and wiped her hands on her shirt. "This is Jeremy, our neighbor."

Jeremy's eyes were begging to see her face to see her up close and not just from his window. His eyes practically popped out of his head as he caught sight of her when she stood up to face him. She was more breathtaking than what he had seen through his bedroom window. "I'm… Umm…" Jeremy stuttered as he couldn't get his brain to work at the mere sight of her.

Bella smiled, she held out her hand, "I'm Isabella, but you can call me Bella." Jeremy slowly took her hand. He took in a deep breath of air as the act of her skin touching his sent shivers down his spine. He stood staring into her brown eyes motionless not being able to find it in himself to let go of her hand. Bella felt exactly what Jeremy was feeling, the only difference was she knew what was happening. Some part of Jeremy had already accepted her as being his. She slowly took her hand out of his hold and smiled at him as his eyes filled momentarily with a hint of sadness before it disappeared.

Regaining his brain, Jeremy returned her smile with one of his own. "I'm Jeremy Gilbert."

Trevor slowly backed out of the kitchen knowing already without needing to be told what had happened. He decided to carry the boxes up the stairs to their rooms giving Bella and Jeremy their space. This was a moment he didn't want to intrude on.

"Umm, you going to school here?" Jeremy asked feeling slightly nervous as he stood in front of the girl he was more than attracted to.

Bella nodded, "Yes, Trev and I are starting at the local high school tomorrow. Trev is a junior and I'm a senior. You go there too, right?"

Jeremy nodded, he ran his hands through his hair a nervous habit he had acquired. Would he admit the truth and say he was a year below? That had seemed to drive Bonnie away, would it be the same with Bella? "Yeah, I'm a junior. Do you need any help unpacking or anything?"

"Sure, but I don't want you to miss school," Bella replied with a smile, she had caught on to the fact that he had his bag on. "You have your backpack on, I assume that's where you were headed?"

Jeremy blushed lightly at forgetting he had to attend school, he couldn't afford to ditch anymore school, so staying probably wasn't the best idea. "Yeah, I kind of forgot that's where I was going. I have nothing to do after school though I'm happy to show you both around town. It's a small town, but it's really easy to get lost."

"I'd like that Jeremy," Bella replied, he was what she had been waiting for, and she couldn't imagine anyone better than him. All her stuffed away feelings for Edward seemed to have gone away the second she touched him. She only hoped he would be able to accept all of her. "Let me walk you out."

Jeremy nodded and walked beside Bella taking small slow steps so he would have just a few more seconds with her. "I'll be by after school Bella."

"Okay, Jeremy," Bella replied she couldn't help but smile at finally being able to find him. Bella watched Jeremy walk off before she walked back in the house. She closed the front door behind her and grinned as she finally had met the one person she was waiting for.

"How are you going to play this?" Trevor asked from the top of the stairs as he heard the door close knowing the coast was clear.

Bella looked at him and shrugged not knowing how to answer his question. "In the end, this is all his decision to make not mine. I won't play any games, not with him. I'll be his friend, and it will go from there."

Trevor nodded, "And if he chooses to stay friends?"

Bella shook her head and smiled as she felt the slight bond being formed between them already. "I have a feeling he won't, I can feel it Trev. Some part of him, has already accepted the bond between us. Some part of him has accepted me as his mate. All that's left is to wait until the rest of him accepts it too."

-Page Break-

Bella laughed as she and Trevor were outside trying to get a hammock set up. "Oh no, _you_ tied it way to high. It's your side that is making my side lopsided not the other way around."

"You were the one who tied it too low," Trevor argued not relenting in his argument.

Bella laughed, "Am I supposed to jump to get on?" Bella threw her hands in the air not wanting to argue. "Screw it, leave it your way I'll be in the front lawn trying to figure out what to do with that hideous oak tree we have."

Trevor nodded and walked over to where Bella side ready to fix her part of the hammock. Bella walked to the front yard and looked at the oak tree. Her phone began to ring, she fished for it in her pockets finally finding it she realized the call was from her dad. "Hey papa Nikki."

"Hello sweetheart," Klaus responded. "Moving in okay?"

"Yeah," Bella replied as she kept an eye on the tree. "I actually have some news to tell you! I mean, it's _amazing_ news dad. I had felt a pulling to this town for a long time, and I found out today why. He's here."

Klaus coughed on the phone being caught off guard. "You mean to say your other mate is there? You found him?"

Bella smiled and sat down under the tree wanting to talk to her dad about Jeremy. "He lives right next door, his name is Jeremy. He's human, and I swear dad I got chills while shaking his hand." Bella heard a car pull up to the house next door and she saw Jeremy get out of the car with Elena. Bella coughed into the phone taken back at the sight of Elena. "I have to go dad, I'll call you later I promise." She hung up and dread filled her at the sight of the two of them. It wasn't jealousy that she got at the sight of them, she could tell they were family. It was the fact that Elena was the doppelganger. Her dad's doppelganger. Bella stood and dusted the grass of her jeans planning to make an escape back into the house without being spotted.

Jeremy turned his head as he heard rustling and smiled as he saw Bella. Elena had already headed inside so he called out to Bella, "Hey Bella!"

Bella turned and smiled at him, well she thought on the Brightside of things, at least she didn't have to meet his sister yet. "Hey Jeremy."

"We still up to go to the Grill?" Jeremy asked hoping not to have her back out on him.

Bella nodded, "Yeah, just let me go get Trev and we can leave."

"Cool, I'll be right over at your house," Jeremy said he smiled and waved needing to set his bag in his room before he could leave with Bella.

Bella headed inside the house as quickly as possible. "TREVOR!"

Trevor appeared out of thin air and was worried as he noticed something was wrong from the look on Bella's face. "What's up?"

"His sister is the doppelganger," Bella stated knowing if anyone was going to understand her worry it would be Trevor. "The one my father has been looking for, the one needed for the ritual."

"And you have to tell your father… you're worried Jeremy might hate you for being related to the person whom wants to kill his sister," Trevor said understanding exactly what Bella was getting nervous.

Bella took in a deep breath her thoughts were racing, but she had to be strong about this. She wouldn't let her fears plague her like they had done in the past, she was a leader and a fighter now. "I'll inform my dad when we get back. Everything will be okay in the end. I have faith that I'll be okay in the end." Bella patted Trevor on the shoulder, "Thanks for that, Trev. I'm going to go change out of these clothes and be down in a minute."

Trevor shook his head slightly confused on what had just happened. "I didn't help though..."

"You reminded me I had to think about more than just myself," Bella said as she took the stairs two at a time disappearing from sight.

Trevor shook his head and took out his phone answering some texts from the other dragons. It was nothing serious, just that none of the other two groups had decided where they would move yet. He replied quickly notifying them that the home in Mystic Falls was permanent and as Bella said they were welcome to move as close to them as they pleased.

Trevor opened the door and allowed Jeremy in as he caught the sound of his footsteps approaching. "Let me get, Izzy." Tyler turned his head towards the stairs and yelled. "Izzy!"

"You didn't have to yell, it's not like I didn't hear the door open," Bella said putting on her jacket as she made her way down the stairs, she smiled warmly at Jeremy as she reached the bottom step.

Jeremy returned the smile, "You guys ready to go?"

"Yeah," Bella said grabbing the keys from the table next to the door. She tossed them over to Jeremy. "We don't know the way around town, so you're going to have to drive. Do you mind?"

"Not at all," Jeremy said accepting the keys, he smiled wider as his hand brushed Bella's and that tingling feeling rose up inside him. Trevor smirked and headed outside allowing Bella and Jeremy to head out of the house together. He sat in the back while Bella sat in the passenger's seat.

"So, what made you guys pick Mystic Falls as your new home," Jeremy asked curious.

Bella smiled and shrugged, "We wanted a small town to live in. Not to mention some family friends live in the next town. It was an easy choice to make in the end."

"Family friends?" Jeremy asked driving to the grill was easy as it wasn't too far away from their homes.

"Yeah, they're kids whose parents were friends with our parents. They live in the next town, so when we decided to move we wanted to be close to them, but be a bit apart from them at the same time. We're all really close," Trevor stepped in from the back of the car.

Seeing the need to leave the two alone Trevor spotted a clothing store and came up with an excuse to leave as they parked outside of The Grill. "Hey, I umm need some new jeans, so I'm going to head over there and get a few. I'll meet up with you guys in a few minutes. Order me something to eat, Izzy."

Bella nodded but eyed Trevor suspiciously knowing exactly what he was up to. "Sure, Trev."

"Come on Bella, let's go order the food," Jeremy said thankful he would be getting some time alone with Bella. Bella nodded with one last look towards Trevor she followed Jeremy inside. On instinct she scanned the area looking for any real threats. She spotted a witch and two warlocks at a table together. She looked away but she was sure to keep them in her mind. She didn't trust easily and knew witches really weren't the people to trust. Jeremy picked out a table and pulled out Bella's chair for her. Bella grinned as he tucked the chair in and sat across from her.

"Okay, so what do I get here?" Bella asked Jeremy as she flipped through the menu scanning through what food could possibly have the most meat. "If I get the hamburger will I regret it?"

Jeremy laughed amused by her question, "No, the food's not too bad here, the hamburger is alright to eat."

Bella hummed as she listened. "I have high standards when it comes to my food, so sorry if I'm a bit picky with what I like to eat."

"I'm sure the food here will meet your standards, if it doesn't I'll take you somewhere else," Jeremy said with a smile and a shrug of his shoulders.

"Have you always lived here?" Bella asked as she set the menu down.

"Yeah, my parents loved this town. It's been home to the Gilberts for decades," Jeremy said with a smile. "Do you think you'll like living here?"

"Yeah, Trev likes it here, and small towns have always been my thing," Bella said with a smile.

"So, any hobbies?" Jeremy asked.

"Ah, yeah I do some writing," Bella said nonchalantly, "Trev and I also like to go hunting when we can. It's a family hobby."

"Hunting? Like hunting animals?" Jeremy asked surprised he didn't really peg her as this kind of girl.

Bella nodded, and laughed. "I know it's strange, but we like it a lot. We take trips pretty often. What about you, hobbies?"

"Not many," Jeremy said a small blush rose on his neck, "I used to be a bit of a stoner kid, but right now I'm sort of trying to focus on school more. I do like to draw from time to time though."

Bella nodded, "I understand, it's not the easiest thing getting over something like losing your parents. Everyone copes in their own way. What do you draw?"

"Whatever comes to mind I guess. I just draw when I'm inspired, when I feel the need to draw." Jeremy said with a shrug. "So what kind of music do you like?"

"I'm not very picky," Bella said they placed their orders, Bella ordering a hamburger for Trevor. She continued her conversation with Jeremy finding him easy to talk to.

"Trevor isn't back yet," Jeremy said as he and Bella had finished their food.

"I'll get this to go," Bella said gesturing to the hamburger. "So, is there a reason we've been stared at the whole time we've been here by that girl over there at that table."

Jeremy shook his head following Bella's line of sight. "That's Bonnie. We-we sort of dated. It just didn't work out. She was too embarrassed to be seen with me, she's my sister's best friend and didn't want to be with the _little brother_."

"She was an idiot," Bella said she smiled as Jeremy grinned at her. They got the food for Trevor and began to head out.

"What about you? Any bad relationships?" Jeremy asked more than curious what the response would be.

"They aren't worth talking about," Bella said with a shrug, "The past is the past."

Jeremy grinned, "You want to take a walk with me?"

Bella smiled. "Yeah, I'd love to. Let's just drop this off at the car and we can go."

Bella set Trevor's food in the car and began to walk with Jeremy. "This town is beautiful." Bella said as she took in the true beauty that is a small town.

Jeremy shrugged, "it's okay." Jeremy looked down at Bella's hand he had a strong urge to reach for it. His eyes focused back on Bella as she looked up at him.

"Do you ever draw this?" Bella asked, "I mean, do you ever get inspiration from this place."

Jeremy smiled, "I do now." He smiled as Bella seemed to blush lightly. He couldn't help himself as he stared into her eyes. He stepped closer to her unknowingly, something felt right about this. Being so close to her felt normal.

"Hey, Jeremy," Stefan's voice interrupted.

Jeremy groaned, just what he needed a vampire near the girl he liked. That always ended well for him in the past. "Need something Stefan?"

"No, I was just headed over to see Elena." Stefan said, Bella stiffened as she sensed the vampire the second he got to close. "I'm sorry for being rude, I'm Stefan, and you are?"

"Bella," Bella responded she didn't like being nice to vampires she didn't know.

"I get it, Stefan. Elena told you to keep an eye out for me," Jeremy said, "I'll be home in a little while."

Stefan nodded, "Okay, I'll see you later Jeremy. It was nice meeting you Bella."

"You too, Stefan." Bella said she nodded politely, but her posture didn't change. She and Jeremy didn't say another word until they knew Stefan was gone for sure.

"I'm sorry about that," Jeremy said catching Bella's attention. "He's my sister's boyfriend."

Bella turned and looked at Jeremy her face lighting up in a smile. "It's fine." She was greatly disappointed Jeremy was seconds away from kissing her, but Stefan had to interrupt and ruin it all. "You should show me your drawings one day."

Jeremy grinned, "Yeah, I'd like that, Bella."

-Page Break-

Bella stepped into her home with Trevor. "Hey, I'm going to call my dad."

"I'll call the guys, see how they're settling in," Trevor said as he headed up the stairs. Bella headed to the living room and took a seat on the couch.

She dialed her father's number and took in a deep breath this was the right thing to do. "Hey dad."

"Hello, Sweetheart," Klaus said surprised to get a call from Bella twice in a day especially so late in the day. "Something wrong?"

"I saw the doppelganger," Bella said deciding to get straight to the point.

"You did?" Klaus asked being a bit surprised.

"You're not reacting the way I thought you would," Bella noticed as she didn't hear a change in her dad's voice.

"I already knew about her," Klaus admitted, "Her biological mother came to me not that long ago in Las Vegas."

Bella froze at the words her father had said. "Why didn't you say anything to me?"

"I was going to, but you seemed a bit busy with the move and all. I didn't want to bother you about it, sweetheart. You have your own things to worry about, worrying about me isn't necessary, so I was going to wait a bit until I told you." Klaus replied. "I'm actually heading into town in a bit. I plan to break this ritual as soon as I can."

Bella sighed and rubbed her eyes. "She's his sister. The doppelganger, she's my mate's sister." Bella paused, "I'm not asking you not to do your ritual. I want this curse broken just like you do. I'll figure something out. What's the plan for the ritual, dad?"

Klaus explained his use of Isabelle and what he had planned to do next. "It won't take too long to break the curse."

Bella nodded, "Good, we shouldn't prolong this. I'll bring in my dragons the night of the ritual for extra security, we don't want anything bad to happen."

Klaus chuckled, "This is why I didn't mention it to you you worry too much sweetheart."

"You do the same," Bella said with a smile. "I have to go, I'm starving and this town isn't exactly known for its wildlife. I'm eating out of the freezer tonight."

Klaus chuckled knowing very well Bella never enjoyed doing that. "I'll call you soon, sweetheart."

Bella said her goodbyes and set her phone down on the couch. She leaned her head back wanting to catch up on her thoughts.

"The hammock has a great view of the stars," Trevor said as he came down the stairs and into the living room catching Bella's attention. "Everyone's fine. Melanie's happy with the guys."

Bella smiled, "That's great." Bella stood she grabbed a pair of headphones and her phone. "I'm going to sit outside, I need some time to think about things."

Trevor nodded he waved to her as she left and sat down on the couch.

Jeremy ignored his sister's questions and slammed the door to his room. Letting her know he didn't want to talk to her. He walked to his window and looked at Bella's house. He smiled as the thought that the girl of his dreams had moved in next door. As he got lost in thoughts he saw Bella come out of the house. He watched as she climbed onto the hammock and put on her head phones. He reached back onto his nightstand and pulled out his drawing pad. He grabbed his pencils and began to sketch out Bella. Towards the end of his drawing he couldn't take it anymore, he needed to get the kiss he had been interrupted from getting earlier. He opened his window and as he did many times before he climbed down the side of the house. He had a determination to get that kiss.

Jeremy climbed the fence separating their yards and walked up slowly to her being cautious as to not startle her. As he got closer her head lifted and she spotted him giving him a warm smile. Jeremy's heart began to flutter as she smiled at him and sat up on the hammock.

"Hey," Bella said as she watched him. Her smile became greater as he got closer. "Want to sit down?"

"Yeah," Jeremy said he took the seat beside her, their legs touching at their closeness.

"What are you doing out here?" Bella asked as she took off her headphones and set her phone down on the ground.

"I saw you from my window," Jeremy said pointing to his bedroom window. "I thought I'd come see what you were up to."

Bella smiled, "I wanted to watch the stars for a while. What were you doing up? It's close to dawn."

"I was drawing." Jeremy said with a sigh.

"Really?" Bella asked her interest was heightened, "What were you drawing?"

"You." Jeremy replied without hesitation. Bella turned to look at him and their eyes met and like before he couldn't help but get lost in them. They were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He didn't hesitate as his hand came up to cup her cheek. He saw her inch closer to him and that was all he needed. He leaned down and kissed her capturing her lips in a soft slow kiss. This kiss was nothing like any other kiss he had, it felt more special. He pulled back the need to breathe had become too strong. He opened his eyes to meet her brown eyes again. "I had to do that."

"I'm not complaining," Bella said a small smile crawling on her lips. She leaned up and kissed him again. Their lips meeting caused electricity to go through them. Bella knew this was it, she wouldn't be able to love anyone after Jeremy. Not even being with Edward had ever felt like this. This had turned into a very heavy makeup session before they knew it. Bella pulled back she took in a deep breath. "This wasn't how I planned to end my night."

Jeremy laughed, "It wasn't what I thought either, but I liked this turn of events much better."

Bella smiled, "I should get inside to get some sleep."

Jeremy nodded, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"We do go to the same school," Bella replied with a smirk.

Jeremy smiled, "Right." He stood helping Bella stand with him. "I know I should've asked this before I kissed you, but would you go on a date with me tomorrow?"

"That sounds great, Jeremy," Bella said with a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, Jeremy."

"Goodnight Bella," Jeremy said the smile on his face never left. He turned to walk away wanting to end his night on a good note.

"Jeremy, wait!" Bella sad stopping Jeremy in his tracks. She walked up to him as he turned around and kissed him. She pulled back and smiled at him. "Goodnight." She turned and walked into the house a bright smile on her face as she made her way to the living room. She could hear Jeremy walking away and she could bet that he had a smile on his face as well.

"So," Trevor said as Bella sat down beside him. "That went well."

Bella smiled at the thought of their kiss. "Yeah, it did."

"And your dad?" Trevor asked as he flipped through channels on the TV.

"He already knew about the doppelganger," Bella replied, "He's going to go ahead with the ritual."

"And Jeremy?" Trevor asked.

Bella looked at Trevor, "What happens, happens. I won't try and stop my dad from doing the ritual he's wanted to do since that curse was put on him. I understand that Jeremy will be mad, but I have to believe that he'll understand. I have to believe some part of him will understand."

Trevor nodded, he reached over and took Bella's hand. "It'll be fine, it has to be."

Bella smiled, "When the ritual takes place, I'm going to ask everyone to be here. I can't let anything happen to my dad, Trev."

"I understand." Trevor said. "You want to talk to them or should I?"

"I'll call them tomorrow sometime," Bella said. "Today wasn't bad."

"No, it was a pretty good day." Trevor said with a smile. "Tomorrow though, that should be fun."

Bella groaned, "First day of school, that's always fun."


	4. First Date

Author's Note

Tell me what you think, and I hope you enjoy!

-Page Break-

Bella put on her converse and looked in the mirror she decided not to try too hard in picking out her clothes. Instead she let her waist length wavy hair just be loose. She put on a plain white shirt to go with her dark black skinny jeans and her converse to tie it all together.

"You look good," Trevor said he of course wore a button up shirt and some dark jeans. "We're matching shoes though."

Bella shrugged as she looked to his shoes. "I doubt anyone will really notice." She turned to look at him as she grabbed her back pack. "I'm taking my bike to school."

Trevor smirked, "Of course you are. Jeremy and his sister left about 5 minutes ago."

"Why are you telling me that?" Bella asked raising an eyebrow at the unneeded information.

"Just thought you might want to know the coast was clear and that you wouldn't have to meet her just yet," Trevor said with a smirk. "I'm taking my bike to school as well. There isn't a point in taking the SUV if it's just me."

Bella smiled and gestured for him to lead the way. They both headed to the garage in silence. Their bikes had arrived not long after Jeremy had left for school the day before. Trevor had a classic jet black Harley Davidson while Bella had a royal blue Ducati.

Trevor tossed Bella her jacket as he grabbed his. He pushed the button to lift up the garage door. He grabbed his helmet that had a delicate design of red flames. Trevor always said it was his way to represent who he was as a red dragon. He threw Bella her helmet which was very plain in all blue to match her bike. Bella placed it on and looked to Trevor with a frown. "Now I'm going to have a case of helmet hair."

"You never get helmet hair, what are you talking about?" Trevor said he closed the garage door and he Bella backed out of the driveway. "See you at school?"

Bella nodded they put down the guards to their helmets as they prepared to leave. They nodded to each other and headed off making it a race between the two to see who could reach the school first.

Jeremy looked around having been forced to come to school with Elena and Stefan he wasn't able to see Bella this morning. Now he stood just outside of the school parking lot keeping his eyes open for that black SUV to pull up. He took a seat at one of the picnic tables setting his hands in front of him as he waited as patiently as he could for Bella to arrive. He had barely slept the night before his mind had been concentrated on reliving the kiss he had with Bella. Even the thought of it made his lips tingle.

His eyes brightened as he saw a motorcycle speeding into the parking lot. It parked directly in front of where he sat. Seconds passed before another blue motorcycle pulled in next to the first. He watched curiously as the one who arrived first took of their helmet.

"I told you stopping for that red light would make you lose," Trevor said as he took off his helmet. He used his hand to ruffle up his hair a bit to get it back to its original style.

Jeremy's eyes zeroed in on Bella as she removed her helmet. She shook her head freeing her hair from the confides her helmet. "I'm a law abiding citizen, of course I'm going to stop at a red light. I was surprised you didn't."

Trevor ruffled Bella's hair seeing as it had been the exact same way it was before they left. "I told you, you wouldn't have helmet hair."

Bella swatted his hand away and frowned. "Don't be such a jerk." Bella strapped her helmet to her bike. She took off her jacket and put it away in the little carrier of her bike. She grabbed her bag and was ready to walk to class when she saw Jeremy. She smiled as she looked at him. Bella walked towards him not having to walk far as he met her halfway.

"Hey," Jeremy said his voice sounding slightly shy.

"Hi," Bella said with a smile. "What are you doing out here?"

"I was waiting for you to be honest," Jeremy said as he ran his hand through his hair.

Bella smiled at the nervous gesture he made. "I'm flattered. Walk with me to the front office?"

Trevor had already disappeared within the crowd of students deciding to give the two of them space. Jeremy smiled, "Sure." He walked beside Bella as they made to the office. In a bold move he reached for her hand lacing his fingers with hers. When she didn't pull back he smiled wider. "Are you scared?"

"For the first day of school?" Bella asked. Jeremy nodded. "Not really, it's just school. It's only a few hours a day and this is my last year."

"I've never met someone who was so positive on starting at a new school," Jeremy said amused.

Bella shrugged, she glanced down at their laced hands. "It's been a good first day so far." They made it to the front office in minutes. Jeremy let go of her hand as Bella made her way inside the office. He could hear her talking lowly with the secretary and after a minute she came back out. Jeremy felt relieved when she reached for his hand again. It was refreshing to know she wasn't ashamed to be near him, to be seen with him in public.

"So, where is this class?" Bella asked as she pointed to her science class that was her first period.

"It's on the third floor," Jeremy said, "Let me walk you there."

"Won't you be late for your class?" Bella asked as they walked.

"No, my class isn't too far," Jeremy said, "And if I'm late, I think it'd be worth it."

Bella laughed. "You don't have to walk me to class, pointing me in the right direction will be fine."

"I want to walk you," Jeremy insisted.

Bella nodded and continued to walk listening to Jeremy explain where everything was around the school. They stopped in front of her class and Bella looked up at Jeremy. "Thank you for walking me to class."

"Your welcome," Jeremy said he stood in front of Bella. His mind wandered to the night before and the kiss they had shared. If he were to kiss her would she coward away from him? Would she get mad that he had kissed her in front of all these people.

"Jeremy," Bella said drawing his attention back to her. Bella smiled as she leaned up. "Just kiss me already."

Without hesitation Jeremy pressed his lips to Bella's. Sighing as that peace over took him and that familiar feeling washed over him. He pulled back quickly not wanting to get her in trouble for PDA. "I'll see you at lunch."

Bella smiled, "Is that our date?"

"No, I have plans for that," Jeremy announced he smiled as Bella walked into class he was headed to his own class when he was stopped by his sister.

"PDA, really Jer? Who was she anyway?" Elena said as she glanced to where he had seen his brother before.

Jeremy rolled his eyes, lately he had been getting aggravated more frequently with his sister. "She's none of your business Elena. Look, I get it your worried, but for once just try not to mess this up for me."

Elena sighed, see as she wasn't going to get anywhere with her brother. "Yeah, okay Jer. Can we just talk later?"

"Whatever," Jeremy said before he left walking down the hall to his own class practically sprinting in order to put some distance between him and Elena.

-Page Break-

Bella had been grateful that she hadn't had a direct run in with Elena or any of her friends. The most that was exchanged were a few glares and such, the majority of which were directed towards Bella. She had made friends with some sweet girls that seemed to be a bit outside of the popular group that was Elena and her friends. She saw Trevor not too far and walked up to him poking him in the side to catch his attention. "Hey, Trev. How's school?"

"The same as always," Trevor said with a smile he threw his arm over her shoulders. "What about you, anymore PDA moments?"

Bella laughed knowing that Trevor had likely caught her with Jeremy earlier. "Not as of yet, but I'm sure they'll be more in the future." Bella got in the line for food with Trevor. They both cringed as there was little meat real meat in the cafeteria meals. Bella finally settled for a chicken salad deciding the chicken would be enough to hold her over. Trevor settled for a horrible looking meatloaf.

They took their seats in a table far away from the large crowds in the center of the room. Bella sat with her back against the wall, she needed to be able to keep an eye out in case of any threat. "We need to hunt soon." Bella said as she looked down at her meal.

Trevor laughed, "You need to hunt soon I mean it's been close to a week. I'm surprised you haven't bitten someone's head off by now. Usually at this point you're ready to attack someone."

Bella rolled her eyes she took a piece of chicken and ate it. "I hate this food. I need to hunt, I need real meat and not this chemical soaked crap. What about tomorrow night?"

"Yeah, that sounds good, a hunt at dawn?" Trevor asked.

Bella nodded she smiled as she Jeremy walking towards them. He took a seat at her side setting his tray on the table.

"What are you guys talking about?" Jeremy asked.

"Izzy's lack of tolerance for the school meals," Trevor said with a smile.

"Not living up to your standards," Jeremy asked with an amused smile.

"Not really," Bella replied with a smile. "The meat tastes stale, overly drowned in chemicals."

Jeremy laughed, "You can taste that?"

"Yeah, I'm picky," Bella said with a shrug. "It's a family trait."

"How's school so far?" Jeremy asked the two of them as he unwrapped his burger.

"I was flirted with a few times, from both the female and male population, that was fun. Not to mention that I got really bored during my classes." Trevor said, "Who knew school could be so boring."

Bella laughed, "Everyone knows school is boring."

"It isn't that bad," Jeremy said he paused and continued. "Actually, it isn't always this boring."

"There's no need to lie." Bella said with an amused smirk. "Although, for this small of a town people aren't really all that friendly."

"Something happened?" Jeremy asked sounding worried that Bella had encountered a bad experience at school.

"Not really, just a few glares and a few whispers. The usual thing you have to deal with when being the new kid in town," Bella said with a shrug not mentioning it was his sister and her friends that had been glaring at her throughout the day.

"Sorry to hear that," Jeremy said with a frown.

Bella smiled and patted his hand. She smiled as he grabbed her hand before she could pull it away intertwining their finger together.

Trevor smiled not mentioning the action. "So what class do you have next, Jeremy?"

"Math," Jeremy said tossing a fry in his mouth.

Trevor smiled, "I have it too. I think we might have the same teacher."

"That's cool," Jeremy said genuinely happy to hear that he would be able to get to know Trevor more.

Bella laughed, "He's a cheater, Jeremy."

"That's a lie," Trevor said with a smirk, "It could never be proven."

"Sure because you magically got a hundred on an exam you didn't even know you were going to take in a class you barely attended." Bella said amused.

Jeremy laughed, "I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding, Trevor."

"Thank you, Jeremy. I'm positive it was," Trevor replied with a smile.

-Page Break-

Bella walked out of the school with Jeremy, he hadn't let go of her hand since he had been waiting for her outside of her class. Bella smiled as he kept close to her. "So, where are we going?"

Jeremy smirked, "You'll have to wait."

Bella laughed, "I'm not very patient."

"It won't be too long," Jeremy said he stopped in front of her bike. Trevor had already been waiting. "I'll pick you up later?"

Bella nodded, "Yeah that sounds great." Bella's hands went to his hair as he kissed her again. His arms were wrapped tightly around her waist. Bella pulled back as she smiled. "Later?"

"Later." Jeremy stated. He watched Bella get on her bike. She waved before she and Trevor left the parking lot. Jeremy walked over to where his sister was with Stefan and her friend. A silly grin was plastered on his face.

"Hey Jeremy," Bonnie said as he got closer no one knew about their attempt at dating, and how it had ended in a mess between the two.

"Bonnie," Jeremy said with a tilt of his head. His eyes moved to look directly at his sister. "You ready to go Elena?"

"Yeah, let's go Jer," Elena said she said her goodbyes to all her friends and walked to her car with Jeremy. "You want to talk about this now?"

"No," Jeremy said, "And if you push it, I'll get out and walk."

Elena nodded and said nothing more she trusted that her brother would talk to her eventually.

-Page Break-

"Hello?" Bella said answering the phone.

"Hello, sweetheart," Klaus's voice came through the phone. "How are things?"

"They're fine," Bella stated, "I'm actually about to head out."

"I assume you have a date with your mate then?" Klaus asked.

"Well dad, you would guess right." Bella said with a grin. "We're getting somewhere."

"Glad to hear it, sweetheart." Klaus said genuinely happy to see Bella happy. "I thought I'd inform you that I should be in town next week."

"Really?" Bella asked she paused, "Next week is the full moon."

"I wanted to warn you," Klaus said, "Give you time to think about things. To change your mind."

"I'm not changing my mind. I'll call in everyone. I'll be by your side." Bella said at the knock at the door she smiled. "I have to go, but we'll talk later?"

"Of course, just call when you have time," Klaus said, "Have a good time, sweetheart."

"I will, call you later, dad." Bella said she hung up the phone and went to the door. She opened it smiling as she what seemed to be a nervous Jeremy.

"You look great, Bella." Jeremy said he smiled and held out his hand for her. She took it closing the door behind them. "Do you mind walking?"

"Not at all," Bella said she smiled as Jeremy let go of her hand as he wrapped his arm around her waist. "So where are we going?"

Jeremy smiled, "You'll see. We're not that far away."

"Okay, so why are we walking?" Bella asked as she looked at Jeremy, who was looking ahead.

"You can't get to where we're going with a car, walking is the only way to get there." Jeremy said with a smile. "There's a story behind this. Before my dad passed away he used to tell me some things about him and my mom. When he took her on their first date, he said taking her out to a restaurant was out of the question. He said for someone special, the first date had to be special. Now, my dad wasn't the best with the dating advice, but I think he was right about this part."

Bella smiled, "So this is somewhere special?" Bella asked as Jeremy turned the corner. He looked both ways before leading her across the street and into the woods.

"I know the woods. I used to sneak out and come out here to smoke. Anyway, I found this spot that I really liked. It isn't really too special, but it's sort of like a hiding spot for me. I thought this was a perfect place for a picnic." Jeremy said he paused and then smiled. "But I ordered some sandwiches from town. I hope they live up to your standards."

Bella laughed, "I think they'll be perfect, Jeremy." Bella followed Jeremy through the forest. They stopped at a clearing that was surrounded by boulders and trees. Bella smiled widely as she saw the blanket on one of the boulders and the bag of food sitting beside it. She looked at Jeremy. "When did you have the time for this?"

Jeremy shrugged, "I ordered the sandwiches to be delivered and then I just sort of came to drop them off before I went to go get you. Do you like it?"

"I love it, this is amazing Jeremy." Bella said she walked over and sat on the blanket. Jeremy went and sat beside her. "This is pretty cool." Bella said looking around.

"Here you go," Jeremy said handing her a sandwich. "I know you don't like fake meat or whatever so I ordered yours from an all organic place. Hopefully this tastes better than school lunches."

Bella smiled and took the sandwich, "I would've been fine with anything you got, but thank you for this."

Jeremy smiled and shrugged, "It wasn't really that hard to do."

Bella unwrapped her sandwich more than happy to see that it was largely a meat sandwich there was no unneeded lettuce or tomatoes. Her mouth practically watered at the sight of the sandwich. She took a bite and practically moaned at the taste.

Jeremy chuckled, "So it lives up to your standards?"

"This is delicious," Bella said with a smile.

"I'm glad you're enjoying this date so far," Jeremy said. "So tell me about your family."

Bella almost choked. "I umm." She shook her head, "My dad is the strongest person I know. There's no one like him, he's been my protector since I was younger. He's someone that would no matter what would do anything for me."

"You're speaking in present tense," Jeremy said.

"Oh," Bella said, "I hadn't-I hadn't noticed. I'm sorry."

"It's nothing to apologize about, it happens," Jeremy said. "Tell me about you and Trevor. You both seem really close."

Bella shrugged, "Trev is that person that I would trust with my life. He's that person that I know that when it comes down to it, he'll always be on my side. I can always tell him something without worrying he'll judge me. If there's something wrong I can trust in him."

"I don't have that with Elena." Jeremy said he sighed, "We're too different."

"I think it's more you're too independent, and she's too controlling. You guys clash with each other. She needs to know your every move and you don't like that." Bella said.

Jeremy looked at her strangely, "That's like right on the dot. How could tell all that?"

"I noticed it throughout the day," Bella said with a shrug. "It'll go away. I was like that with Trev, but at some point I backed off."

Jeremy laughed, "Yeah, I don't think it'll go away. At least not anytime soon."

"You never know," Bella said she wrapped up what was left of her sandwich and put it out of sight. She moved and laid back on the boulder her legs hanging off the edge. From where they were they had the perfect view of the stars.

Jeremy did the same, he reached for her hand and held it tightly in his own. "I really like you, Bella."

Bella smiled, "I feel the same Jeremy."

Jeremy turned to look at Bella. Her sight was set on the stars. "I don't want to waste time." Jeremy said.

Bella turned to look at him. "Waste time on what?"

Jeremy took in a deep breath. "I don't know what it is about you Bella, but I feel so connected to you. It's been two days and I can't stop thinking about you, you're all that's on my mind. I saw the way guys at school looked at you, and that made me so angry, so jealous. I- I don't know if this will seem sudden to you, but I feel this huge connection with you. I want you to be my girlfriend Bella, I want to be able to tell people you're with me."

Bella smiled, "If this is your way of asking if I'll be your girlfriend. The answer would be yes."

Jeremy sighed in relief, "I thought you would say no."

Bella laughed, "You're a little too cute to say no to."

Jeremy laughed, he leaned towards Bella and kissed her lightly. "This is awesome."

Jeremy laid back down a smile on his face. He went back to talking to Bella. He wanted to get to know her better. "So tell me about how you were able to buy a house so easily."

"My dad was good with money," Bella said simply. "It was left to us and when we got emancipated we were left with it. I usually take care of all the fund related stuff around the house. Trev isn't the best with that kind of stuff. What about you and Elena? You guys have a legal guardian right?"

"Yeah, our aunt Jenna," Jeremy said, "She's not that much older than us, she's pretty cool actually. She doesn't hover too much over us."

Bella smiled that line reminded her of Charlie for a moment. She continued her talk with Jeremy happy to have him there with her. To have him want her just as much as she wanted him.

Bella smiled as they walked back to their homes. Jeremy had a backpack strapped on with the supplies from their date. He walked her to her door and moved in kissing her slowly. Enjoying the moment of their kiss every kiss with her was special. He pulled back and smiled at her. Cupping her cheek he smiled as her cheeks were pink, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Bella nodded, "Tomorrow." They kissed again a slow and soft kiss, ending their night on a perfect note.

Jeremy sighed wanting nothing more than to stay there and continue kissing her. He looked at his house and saw Elena's light still on she must be waiting for him. "I have to go, but I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow, Jeremy." Bella said with a smile. She kissed Jeremy's cheek before she slipped inside her house. She smiled and sat on the couch beside Trevor. "Hey."

"Hey," Trevor said putting his laptop down. "How'd it go?"

"It was perfect," Bella said with a smile. "How is everyone?"

"They're not unpacking, they'd figured they'd just move closer after they come down for the ritual." Trevor said.

Bella nodded, "And the older group?"

"They're already making arrangements so that they can move closer. Maybe a town or so away, but they'll be close." Trevor said

Bella nodded she tapped her chin in thought. "I'll call them to ask they don't look suspicious. Too many people moving into the same town at the same time can be suspicious."

"I already got it handled. The younger group, they'll be moving closer, they'll just tell people they're part of a foster home. No one really needs to know the details. The older ones, they can get job transfers, so it's not too suspicious. They can easily say their move was forced by the company they worked for." Trevor said, at Bella's startled face he continued. "I'm your second in command for a reason."

"I didn't know you could be so efficient," Bella said with surprise. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Trevor said he got a silly grin over his face, "So... How was your date?"

Bella smiled, "It was perfect Trev. Really, perfect."

-Page Break-

Jeremy walked into his room he threw himself onto his bed. He looked up at the ceiling with a goofy smile on his face as the night replayed in his mind. She was his girl. The thought made his grin turn wider, she was definitely his dream girl.

At the knock of the door he sat up in his bed. "Yeah?" He yelled not really sure if it was his aunt, Alaric or Elena wanting to speak to him.

"Jer?" Elena asked from just outside the door. "I saw you came back, I thought we could talk."

Jeremy sighed annoyed and stood, he opened the door just enough to look at his sister. "What can I help you with Elena?"

"Look, I know things have been rough, but I just want to talk. I feel like there's so much I'm missing out on with you." Elena said. "Like you and Bonnie?"

Jeremy groaned, "She told you about that?'

"Yeah, she said the reason you guys broke up was because of me," Elena said, "Is that true? I mean if you want to date Bonnie, I think it's a great idea. You'd be cute together."

Jeremy shook his head, "I don't want to date Bonnie, Elena. She made it clear to me that she didn't see me as boyfriend material if she couldn't tell you sooner. She was embarrassed of me Elena, and I don't want to deal with that or her anymore. I'm over it. Is that all you wanted to talk about."

"No," Elena said, "Can I come in so we can talk properly?"

Jeremy stepped aside and let Elena in to his room. Elena took a seat at his desk while he took a seat on his bed. "What's on your mind Elena?"

"That girl from school, our new neighbor apparently, is that all to make Bonnie jealous," Elena asked.

Jeremy let out a small laugh in annoyance, knowing that his sister and his ex-girlfriend must've come up with the solution together. "No, I'm over Bonnie, Elena. It never got serious between us, she wouldn't let it. Her name is Bella and don't mess this up for me Elena, I really like her. I'm sorry to say this, but you ruin all my relationships every time you somehow get involved. Your boyfriend killed Vicky because your other boyfriend turned her into a vampire. Anna was killed because Damon and Stefan angered Bonnie causing her not to deactivate the device. Bonnie wouldn't even want to be seen in public with me because she was embarrassed over what you would think. All I'm asking is that you stay out of it Elena."

"Jeremy, I-"Elena began but was cutoff of by Jeremy.

"You're my sister Elena, and despite everything I love you, but do me a favor this one time, and keep Bella and me out of your drama. I want no part of it, not anymore. I have something good here Elena and I really don't want to mess this up." Jeremy said his voice coming out stronger than he intended it to.

Elena sighed but nodded. "I'm going to go to my room, and get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Jeremy sighed in relief as Elena left the room. He looked out his window one last time before he got ready for bed.

-Page Break-

Bella and Trevor got into the SUV at midnight having decided it was better if they went for their hunt now instead of the next day. They had to meet the rest of the dragons so it made sense to leave now. Bella pulled out of the driveway and drove off. In order to get a good hunt in they would have to drive quite far away, they would then fly to a meeting place where the younger dragons would be.

Trevor looked over at Bella and smiled as she still had a goofy look on her face. "I like him, Jeremy seems pretty cool. I think I would like him better than I would Edward."

Bella laughed, "You haven't met Edward, but he is better than Edward by a long shot."

Trevor nodded, he turned on the radio. He hummed along to the song allowing Bella to stay in her thoughts.

Bella pulled over after two hours of driving. She and Trevor got out of the car and headed into the wooded area. "Let the hunt begin." Bella said as she took off. Trevor waited until he heard the sounds of his prey and then moved. He ended up finding a couple of elk to feed off of. Surprised that Bella hadn't come to find him yet he went off in search of her.

Bella looked up from her sixth elk to see Trevor she took her last bite and threw the elk aside. She wiped her mouth only further smearing the blood across her face. "I was hungrier than I thought."

Trevor chuckled, "Yeah, I can see that. I'm sure the family of elk could see that too."

Bella looked down at her clothes and sighed, "Let's change before we meet up with the rest. I don't like the feeling of the sticky blood on my skin or clothes."

"Yet, that doesn't stop us from making a mess when we hunt." Trevor replied with a smirk as he and Bella headed back to the car.

They changed quickly using a set of wet wipes to clean off blood that had gotten on their skin. Looking around to check if anyone was looking they locked the car and went into the air their wings spread out as they flew to where the rest of the dragons were waiting.

Bella landed in front of the house Trevor landing directly behind her. They walked towards the house and opened the door peering inside to see if everyone was gathered. At the sight of both groups of dragons in the living room Bella smiled. "Hello, everyone."

Trevor waved at them as he took a seat next to Sean and Alexander. Bella smiled at the three. "How is everyone doing? I wasn't aware you were all together."

"We arrived not that long before you did," Alexander announced.

Bella nodded, "I want to explain to you what's going to happen in the next full moon. As you all know my father has a curse on him preventing his werewolf side to surface. This upcoming full moon, he plans to break it. All of you are expected to be there. My father has a lot of enemies, and I can't take the chance of someone killing him. After he transforms, you're all free to go."

Sean nodded, "Who's trying to kill Klaus?"

"Elijah his brother, who I ask stay alive. Despite the problems he and my father have, they're still family." Bella said making it clear that even though she didn't like Elijah she couldn't let him die either. "There are two vampires and a witch, but the witch's power shouldn't affect any of you so there isn't any real problem there, but you can expect them to do something stupid towards the end. My father is at his weakest point at the time during his first turning. This is known by Elijah, and from the rest of their little group. Towards the end of it we have to be on high alert, no harm is to come to my father."

Bella scanned the room as she looked on at the rest of the dragons they all nodded their heads in understanding. She was grateful they weren't going to put up a fight against her wishes. She took a seat across from them all. "Where's everyone staying?"

"We're headed to Mystic Falls, I guess we just want to stick together." Sean said hoping Bella wouldn't disagree with him.

"And we plan to stay the next town over. Unless we're also allowed to stay in Mystic Falls," Alexander said.

Bella nodded nothing would make her happier than having all her dragons together. "All of us together in Mystic Falls sounds good, sounds perfect actually."


	5. Monster

Author's Note

Warning: The contents of this chapter were necessary for the story to go on. (You'll understand once you're done with the chapter.)

I will update this story tomorrow and hopefully have it finished up by the end of the month.

Tell me what you think, and I hope you enjoy!

-Page Break-

Bella smiled as Jeremy came to pick her up for school. It wasn't that long since their date, but it had cemented their importance to each other. Bella smiled as Jeremy instantly leaned down and kissed her. Her hands went to his hair and brought him closer deepening their kiss.

"Get a room." Trevor said walking out of the door. He expertly dodged the punch Jeremy attempted.

Bella laughed and put her arms around Jeremy's neck. "You want to take my bike today? I can teach you how to use it."

Jeremy smiled his arms circled around Bella's waist. "You're not afraid I might suck at it and cause some sort of accident?"

Bella shook her head, "I trust you." She stated as ran her hands through his hair. "Besides, I'm a great teacher. Like one of the best." Bella said with a smile as Jeremy laughed at her words.

"Sure, I don't see anything wrong with it." Jeremy said, he smiled as Bella took his hand and quickly led him to her bike. Bella handed Jeremy a spare helmet before grabbing her own. Jeremy got on the bike and grinned as Bella got on behind him. She pressed herself against him and put her hands over his on the brakes.

"Are you ready?" Bella asked with a smirk as she could hear Jeremy's heart pick up.

"It's now or never right?" Jeremy replied.

Bella smiled and they slowly began to leave the driveway. Bella directed him to press the gas and smiled as his heart picked up again as they started to go faster. She laughed as he seemed to be picking it up rather quickly. She took her hands off of his and rested them on his chest. "You're a natural." She said, she smiled as she felt him shiver at her closeness.

As they came into the school parking lot, Bella helped him park the motorcycle next to Trevor's. She hopped off and took off her helmet. She laughed as Jeremy took his off. She reached up and fixed his hair. "You have a serious case of helmet hair."

"Not all of us are as lucky as you," Jeremy stated as he let Bella finish fixing his hair enjoying the feel of her fingers running through his hair. "That was pretty fun, Isa."

Bella smiled at the name he had taken to calling her. "I thought you would think so." She replied she removed her hands from his hair and placed them around his neck. "Want to do it again?"

"Sure," Jeremy said, he put his arms around Bella. "But first." He said before he leaned down and kissed her. He pulled back when the need to breathe became too much, he smiled and brushed the hair out of her face. "We should get to class."

Bella nodded and smiled, "But first." She said with a smile as she leaned up and kissed Jeremy softly on the lips. "Okay, now we can get to class."

Bella took his hand and let him walk her to class. She did as she always did and ignored the glares she received from his sister and Bonnie. She walked happily by Jeremy's side as he walked her to her first class. She smiled as he pecked her on the lips before disappearing to go to his class. She entered the classroom and took her seat as usual.

Bella sighed as she saw Elena take the seat to her right and Bonnie take the seat to her left. Deciding to ignore them, she looked straight ahead not wanting to get into any sort of confrontation with the two girls.

Elena leaned over, "We need to speak."

Bella looked to Elena and saw the girl visibly cower away from her as Elena saw the intensity in Bella's eyes. "You've never even introduced yourself to me, nor have I introduced myself to you. If you want to talk to me about your brother, at least have the decency to do it in a civil manner, and not just order me to speak to you as if I were some sort of pet." Bella said she turned back to the lecture that was being given.

When the bell rang Bella rolled her eyes as Elena and Bonnie blocked her path. "I see, doing things in a civil manner isn't up your alley?" Bella said as she straightened her shoulders, she wouldn't show any sort of weakness towards two girls who were just playing the roles of bullies.

"Look, I'm just looking out for my brother," Elena said.

Bella nodded, "You think you're the only one who has someone to look after? I've been in your place Elena, I'm cautious of anyone who gets near Trevor, but if I wanted to speak to them, I wouldn't have my friend do it with me in a form to be intimidating. I would also have the manner to do it politely, I wouldn't gang up on them just because I don't know them."

"I just want to know what you have with my brother. What's going on between the two of you?" Elena asked her voice becoming more forceful as she didn't like being scolded by Bella.

"We're dating." Bella stated, "Anything else you want to know, I'm sure you can ask Jeremy. If he won't tell you, it's not my place to tell you." Bella sidestepped Elena and Bonnie and walked out of the bathroom.

Bella ran into Trevor in the hallway and smiled as she rarely saw him or Jeremy before lunch. "What's up, Trev?"

"I got a call from Sean and he said he shouldn't be too far away. He should be stopping by tonight or tomorrow with the rest of the guys." Trevor said.

Bella paused and shook her head, "Tonight is that dance, and I promised Jeremy I'd go with him. I also told my dad I'd be there. He's insisting I attend for a reason I'm still trying to figure out."

Trevor nodded, "To add onto why I'm the best, I have it covered. They'll be here after the dance is over."

Bella nodded she smiled, "That's great, Trev." Bella walked with Trevor to their next class.

"Something wrong, Izzy?" Trevor asked.

"You know how I said I had an inkling that Jeremy's sister hated me?" Bella said as they walked.

Trevor nodded, "Yeah, her and her friends glare at you every time they see you."

"She just confirmed it," Bella said, "It was sort of like an intervention." Bella shook her head as the bell rang. "We'll talk later." She said as she and Trevor parted ways and headed to their own classes.

Bella sat down across from Trevor at lunch, she knew Jeremy would arrive at any minute to join them. "I figured out what was up with my dad." Bella stated.

"Yeah?" Trevor questioned, "What's up?"

"He magically possessed Alaric." Bella said leaning into whisper as she didn't want to be heard. "That's why he insisted for me to go to the dance."

Trevor laughed, "I love your dad! He always comes up with the best tricks!"

Bella laughed and leaned back. "Yeah, it's something new."

"Super clever," Trevor said as he slipped into thought. "What about the accent?"

"Covers it up flawlessly." Bella said as she picked at her food. She turned and smiled as Jeremy took a seat beside her. "Hey." She said smiling as he leaned down and kissed her quickly.

"What were you two talking about?" Jeremy asked.

Bella shrugged, "I'm trying to convince Trevor here to go as a gangster from the sixties to the dance. He keeps shooting down my ideas."

Jeremy laughed, "I'm assuming dressing up isn't your thing?"

Trevor groaned, "Are you telling me you enjoy it?"

"You get used to it, this town has a lot of these type of parties." Jeremy said, "A lot of parades, balls that sort of thing."

Bella smiled, "He'll get used to it eventually he's just being a big baby right now."

Trevor rolled his eyes, "I just don't see the point in dressing up. I could wear a suit and no one would know the difference."

-Page Break-

Bella grabbed her phone as it rang knowing it was going to be her father. "Dad!" Bella said as she answered the phone. "I can't believe this was your master plan!"

Klaus chuckled on the other line, only it sounded weird to Bella as it was Alaric's laugh. "I needed to get close, to see what they were planning. They have nothing on me, just the witch Bonnie, but Maddox is coming up with something as we speak."

Bella sighed "Just tell me what the master plan is. I want to know if you might be in danger."

"I'll be sure to contact you in some way. For now I have to go, I'm currently dealing with Katerina." Klaus responded. Bella nodded to herself.

"Okay, just be careful pops," Bella said before she hung up. She went back into the bathroom and finished getting her hair done. Getting the 60's look was harder than she thought it would be. She slipped into her dress and headed to her room slipping on her heels. She looked up at the knock at the door. She grinned as she saw Trevor in the suit she had picked out for him, he had his hair combed back perfectly no strand was out of line. "Well, well, well, don't you just look adorable?"

Trevor laughed, "I believe the word ditto works in this situation."

Bella laughed as she looked down at her yellow polka dotted dress. "It's the best I could do in short notice." She twirled around and laughed, "The hair is what took forever though."

"Yeah, it looks like it. I had to use a lot of gel to keep mine in place." Trevor said as he lightly patted his hair to make sure nothing was sticking out. "This is a lot of work. I wouldn't have made it in this decade."

Bella laughed and nodded. "I don't know how my dad did it." She grabbed her bag and headed down the stairs with Trevor.

She smiled as just as she made it down the stairs a knock came from the front door. She went to open it and smiled as she saw Jeremy. "You look quite handsome." She said as she eyed his attire.

"You look amazing, Bella." Jeremy said.

"Oh Trevor, you look good too." Trevor mumbled out loud.

Bella and Jeremy laughed at Trevor's comment. "I already complimented you, Trev." Bella turned to Jeremy. "Just ignore him, Jeremy."

Jeremy smiled and looked at Bella he leaned down and lightly kissed her. "You're going to be the most beautiful girl there." Jeremy said, he took Bella's hand in his and smiled as they headed to the car. Trevor got into the driver's seat. While Jeremy and Bella sat in the back together. Bella smiled as Jeremy took her hand in his and helped her out of the car. Jeremy walked with his arm around Bella's waist as the three of them made their way to the entrance.

Bella looked around as they entered the gym. She smiled as she saw Trevor walk towards a group of girls to ask one of them to dance. She turned back to Jeremy. "Is every dance like this?"

Jeremy shook his head, "No, this dance is special." He stated as he put his hands on Bella's hips

"Really? What's different?" Bella asked curious.

"You're here." Jeremy stated. He led Bella to the dancefloor just as they played a slow song.

He twirled her around and brought her closer to him. Bella rested her head on his chest, she needed to tell him the truth, but she feared ruining this night. She would tell him soon, just not that night. She looked around as they danced to the song. As they danced Bella spotted Alaric/Klaus by the punch bowl where it seemed the teachers had gathered. She smiled at her father and received a small smile in return.

Bella watched as her father left the room. She had a feeling in her stomach that this wasn't going to end well. She took the opportunity to sneak out when Jeremy was pulled away by his sister. Bella looked around at the crowded gym trying to spot Trevor. Finally she spotted him next to a girl. Bella looked to the girl. "I have to speak to my brother."

"Oh thank you, she was never going to let me go." Trevor said as he followed after Bella as she led him into the hall.

"What's going on?" Trevor asked as he and Bella made their way through the halls.

"I'm not sure, but something is going to happen very soon, and I fear my father's life may be in danger." Bella said, "He mentioned the witch having an extreme amount of power."

"You think she figured out some way to kill your dad." Trevor asked as they began to run as they heard a large amount of commotion.

"I think she figured out a way to hurt him. A few minutes ago Elena forced Jeremy out of the gym. I'm assuming his cover was blown and they figured out who he is. I just need to find him before they do." Bella said as she looked around trying to find the source of the noise. Bella froze as she saw Elena, Stefan, Damon and Jeremy all trying to break into the cafeteria.

She looked to Trevor, "She's blocking the door." Bella grabbed his hand and they took the first exist outside. She looked up into the air. Her heart sank at what she was about to do, knowing this could damage what she had with Jeremy, but she couldn't let her father die. "We're breaking in through the ceiling."

Trevor looked to Bella not wanting to disobey her command but he needed to know she was sure. "Jeremy will see."

"I have to save him, I can't lose another parent." She stayed as her wings ripped open the back of her dress, she blessed whatever made her wear this dress as it only ripped a small part of it. She watched as Trevor did the same. Both their eyes transforming, Bella's took on multiple colors while Trevor only took on one. Bella's slim tail was ready to attack as the spikes began to stand at point. The horns on her head only adding to the fear factor. She nodded to Trevor and they both flew into the air landing on the cafeteria ceiling. The landed forcefully causing the ceiling to crack and for everything to crumble. They landed on a pile of rubble and stood in front of Bonnie, taking a protective stance in front of Klaus.

Bella's eyes turned white as she used her own magic to battle against Bonnie. She turned her head slightly to see Trevor helping Alaric/Klaus come up to his feet. Bella tried to deflect Bonnie from using her magic on her father. She directly stood in front of Bonnie and let the girl use up all her magic trying to hurt her. She took in a deep breath and glanced over at Jeremy. She saw his face and her heart broke, how could she be so stupid to keep this from him?

Deciding she had enough, she finally used all the power she could muster to knock Bonnie unconscious. She watched as Trevor flew out of the room with her father. Bella turned to Jeremy. "I'm sorry." She said as she flew out of the hole in the roof and followed after Trevor. She followed the path of Trevor and landed just outside the mansion she had purchased for them. She walked inside and saw her father by the bar. Trevor though was out of sight, she guessed he had gone to catch up with the other dragons whom she had sensed were next door.

"How are you feeling?" Bella asked as she stepped closer to her dad. It didn't matter that he was in a different body, he was still her dad.

"Like I've just had a lot of magic thrown at me in an attempt to kill me." Klaus replied he looked at Bella and downed his drink. "I'm sorry, I wasn't planning to get you involved. I wanted you to go on with what you were doing with the boy."

Bella nodded, "I couldn't let you die." She stated. "I know you probably had some back up plan, but I couldn't stand by and let you die. You're the last parent I have, I can't lose you. I lost Charlie, and I won't go through that again." Bella stepped forward and hugged him. She stepped back after a moment. "This feels weird, you really do need to get back into your own body."

Klaus chuckled, "I feel the same, this man dresses horribly, and I'm incredibly tired from portraying him all day."

Bella smiled, "You did a good job, though. It didn't take you long to really perfect Alaric." Bella's phone rang and she glanced down at it.

 _Meet me at our first date –J_

"Go," Klaus said, "I'll call Maddox, and by the time you return I'll be in my old body."

Bella nodded, "I'll be back." She stated before she walked out of the house and flew into the air. She landed just a few feet away from the area. She walked up to the clearing and took in a deep breath as she built up the courage to face Jeremy.

"I'm here." Bella stated as she came into sight. She watched as Jeremy turned around with a frown on his face. "Jeremy I…"

"NO!" Jeremy said his voice harsh as he spoke. "You used me."

Bella shook her head, "I would never use you, Jeremy, please understand that."

Jeremy laughed and shook his head, "How am I supposed to believe you? You've lied about everything, you're this completely different person."

"I'm not." Bella said she tried to step closer but hesitated as she saw Jeremy step back. "You still know me, there are just some things that needed to be added."

Jeremy shook his head as he couldn't believe a word she was saying. "No. I don't know you. I never did." He met Bella's eyes and he wanted to make her hurt like he was hurting. "I fell in love with a human. Not a monster." Jeremy regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth.

"A monster." Bella repeated. She nodded her head and straightened her shoulders. "This _monster_." She spat the word. "Was trying to save the last family she has. This _monster_ fell in love with you, and I'm sorry if I appall you now that you know what I am. To make it easier for you, you won't have to see me again, Jeremy."

"Isa-"Jeremy began to try and apologize but was stopped as Bella's wings appeared and she flew into the air and disappeared from his sight. "DAMMIT!" Jeremy cursed, he had let his sister and her friends get into his head. He had let them get him angry, and as a consequence he had hurt Bella. He should've let her explain, but what he did was stupid and he regretted it instantly. He took out his phone and tried calling Bella but he couldn't get through. He walked home with tears in his eyes at the realization that what he had with Bella was over, and that caused a pain in his chest that he couldn't imagine.

-Page Break-

Bella pushed back her hurt as she landed in front of the mansion. She blocked all emotion from her face as she entered. "Everyone is here so early." She stated as she entered the room. She noticed as they all sat huddled together.

"We thought it was better to be early. Give us time to adjust to town." Alexander replied as he stood.

Bella nodded. "My father was attacked tonight. His enemies now know that Trevor and I are something different. Be careful around them, especially the witch. She may not be able to hurt you, but I have no doubt they won't stop until they've found something that will. I want you all on your highest alert, no being on your own, not when it's more risky. Once the ritual is over, we should be fine, and things will hopefully cool down."

The dragons nodded their heads. Bella looked to the group. "I'm sure Trevor has alerted you that this house is for us. My father is going to be living next door with his siblings when he awakens them. You're all welcome to live here if you choose."

"We want nothing more than to be together as a family, Isabella." Sean replied as he spoke for his group.

"We've been talking it over as well, Isabella, being together as a family, it's something we wanted to do for sometime." Alexander said. "I think I speak for everyone when I say that, we became dragons to be part of a family, and there's nothing more we want than to be together under one roof as a real family."

Bella smiled, "That's good to hear. I'll leave you to unpack and choose your rooms. Trevor's and I's rooms have already been chosen, you'll see a label on the door. I have other wooden labels prepared for you all, so go ahead and chose. The labels should be on the dining room table." Bella watched as everyone stood and headed to the kitchen. She watched Trevor walked towards her. She shook her head. "I rather not mention it." She smiled and kissed Trevor's cheek. "I'm glad I have you." She said she blinked away the tears. "I'm going to go check on my father, watch over them. I'll be back in a bit."

Bella disappeared and walked to her father's house. She entered and headed straight to the bar, she took a seat on the stool beside her father and grabbed the drink he placed in front of her. He didn't question her, on what had happened, instead he stayed silent waiting for her to speak to him first.

"He said I was a monster, and that he could never love a monster." Bella said as she looked down at the ice in her drink. "I think I'm done." Bella stated. "You were always right. Love is a weakness, and I'm done with it."

"You cannot think so irrationally, Isabella." Klaus said as he refilled his drink and did the same for Bella. "Love is only a weakness if you let it be."

Bella shook her head. "I've fallen in love twice, and both times, I come out hurt. I'm tired, dad. I'm tired of feeling hurt, and it's worst now because I really fell for him. I claimed him, and there's no going back from that. I can't be with Edward, because my soul belongs to Jeremy, and he hates me." Bella looked to her father. "You should have seen the way he looked at me, dad. I _disgusted_ him. I'm just tired." Bella downed her drink. She shook her head. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. Why don't we talk about your ritual? We should get everything straightened out."

Klaus nodded respecting his daughter's wishes. "Well, than we should start planning."

-Page Break-

Jeremy woke up to the sound of a car starting and talking. He looked out his window and saw Trevor with two other guys. They were moving boxes into the back of the SUV. Jeremy shook his head, no, she really couldn't be leaving. Quickly he jumped out of bed shoving his feet into his shoes. He climbed down the window and over the fence as quickly as he could.

Breathing heavily he saw the three guys come out of the house. Trevor turned to Alexander and Sean, "We have everything we need you guys go ahead and drive back. I'll fly there."

Sean was about to argue when Alexander put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll see you there." He said as he and Sean left.

Trevor held a hand out to Jeremy and shook his head. He waited until he knew Alexander and Sean were gone and wouldn't be able to hear him. "What do you want?"

"Where's Bella?" Jeremy said looking around.

"Look, Jeremy, I like you, you're pretty cool to hang around, but I don't know what happened between you and Bella. I'm here under Alpha's orders, I can't say anything about what we are or where we are. When Alpha gives an order, we have to follow it. I'm sorry, I can't answer your question. I'm not even supposed to be talking to you right now." Trevor said he looked to Jeremy sadly. "I really hope you and Bella can fix things."

"Yeah, so do I. Look, can you just tell her I'm sorry?" Jeremy said he rubbed his face. "I just want to talk to her again."

Trevor nodded, "If she'll hear me out, then I'll tell her what you said. I should get going." Trevor's wings appeared and he disappeared into the air. He travelled back to the house and arrived just as Alexander and Sean did. He helped them carry the boxes into the house. He set them down in front of his and Bella's rooms. "Thanks guys." Trevor said as he watched the two head back down the stairs to join the rest of the group. He knocked on the door to Bella's room.

"Thanks for going to get these." Bella said as she grabbed the boxes and put them inside her room. "Everything went well, I assume?"

"Yeah," Trevor said as he entered her room and closed the door behind them. "Jeremy came out right before we were about to leave."

Bella shook her head. "Trev, I get it, you want to help, but I don't want to hear it. Right now, all I want is to focus on the ritual, and on you guys. I have some things to work out with the ritual, and I don't want any distractions."

Trevor nodded, "Okay, I guess I'll tell you another time. Do you need any help?"

"No, thank you." Bella said she smiled at Trevor. "Go spend time with the others. I'll be down in a bit, I just need to work on somethings."

Trevor nodded and paused at the door. "You know you can talk to me. What's said between you and me, it stays between you and me."

Bella smiled, "I know, but you have to understand there will always be some things I can't say. I'm still processing tonight, I can't talk about it until I understand it."

"Okay, just know that everyone in this house loves you." Trevor said as he exited the room.

Bella took in his words and sat back on the bed. She pulled out the notebook she had and went back to fixing the plans for the ritual. She needed everything to be perfect.


	6. Back From The Dead

Author's Note

I have a feeling this will be sort of a letdown for some of you, but hey that's okay.

Tell me what you think and I hope you enjoy!

-Page Break-

Bella gathered the needed materials and began to mix together the potion she needed for the ritual. The other dragons were outside in the backyard practice fighting with one another, so she knew she had the space and quiet to finish up her potion. Bella knew what she was planning was going to affect all the dragons strongly, but it was something she needed to do. Bella picked up the phone as she heard her father's ringtone. "Hey."

"What are you doing?" Klaus asked as he entered the house on his phone.

"In the kitchen." Bella said before hanging up.

Klaus entered the kitchen and looked around. "I don't understand what exactly you're doing so early in the morning."

Bella smiled, "Dragons don't sleep a lot, unless you forgot." Bella looked to her father and sighed. "I was reading over the ritual and that book of spells from your mom, the one that has the curse."

"We already know how to break it, Isabella." Klaus said as he took a seat on the stool beside the counter not knowing exactly where Bella was planning to go with this.

"Yes, I know that." Bella said as she walked to the fridge and pulled out a blood bag that contained her blood. "I was reading over it because, I had a feeling something was wrong, and I was right."

"What did you find?" Klaus questioned as he watched with curiosity as Bella poured the blood into the pot where she was mixing several ingredients.

"Your mother is sabotaging you." Bella said, "At first, it was just an inkling I was having, but I talked to some spirits, and they dug up the truth. If Elena dies, if she doesn't live and remain human, you can't make hybrids. Your mother knew that eventually you would break the curse, and kill the doppelganger. She made it so that the final step in creating your hybrids would be to drink some of Elena's blood, they need doppelganger blood to complete the transition. I have to say, your mother was smart. She knew you would never let the doppelganger live, and because of that you would lose all chance of making hybrids."

Bella lit the pot on fire and went to the counter and grabbed the chicken leg she left there. She took a bite out of the leg. "Sorry, I need to eat." Bella finished the leg quickly before throwing the bone away. She wiped her mouth before returning to her explanation. "Originally, I was going to ask to save Elena because of her relation to Jeremy, and it's still partially because of that, but now, it's so that you can make hybrids."

"That's what you're creating? A potion to keep Elena alive?" Klaus questioned as he looked at the pot that contained the potion and then back to Bella.

Bella shook her head, "Elena has to die it's part of the ritual. I'm creating something so that she can come back from the dead just as healthy as she was before. I'm making something to ensure that she'll come back to life."

"Are you sure it's going to work?" Klaus replied skeptical of the idea of Bella being able to bring someone back from the dead.

Bella nodded, "Of course, well about 8 0% sure that it's going to work." Bella smiled at her father. "I have this. I also have Lily and William out hunting a backup vampire and werewolf. I know that they're going to try something, and I don't want anything to mess this day up."

Klaus looked out the backdoor, "What are they doing?"

"Practice fighting," Bella responded, "I wanted them prepared, and out of the house so I can finish making this."

Klaus stood and moved to stand in front of Bella. He tipped her chin up to look at him. "You don't have to worry yourself so much, tonight will be fine."

"I like making sure," Bella replied with a smirk, "You said so yourself, this night can't go wrong. I also need something to distract my mind, it all feels jumbled up in there."

Klaus nodded, "Alright, I'll be back in a bit, I'm getting some things fixed up, call if you need anything."

Bella nodded, she waved to her father and turned back to the potion. She gathered the rest of the materials and dropped them in one by one. Finally, she grabbed a pair of scissors and cut off a few strands of hair letting them mix in and dissolve with the potion. She stepped back and began to chant a spell. She closed her eyes and continued her chant. She opened them just as the pot began to emit a red smoke. She watched the smoke die down, and once it was cool enough she poured the liquid into a bottle. She took the bottle and set it in the fridge were she was sure no one would touch it.

She headed outside and leaned against the doorway as she saw all her dragons together teaching each other how to fight, and preparing themselves for the night that lay ahead.

"Isabella!" Melanie said as she spotted Bella. "Watch this!"

Melanie did a swift kick to Sean's gut and knocked him over. Bella laughed, she could see it in them that they were getting closer. She knew by the end of the month the two of them would be together. "Next time aim for the head, I think it'll help him see things clearly." Bella joked. She smiled as Sean stood up mumbling about not being able to eat for a week from the kick. She walked over to Spencer who was the youngest of the group.

Bella straightened his shoulders, "When you're fighting someone, don't let them see any emotion on your face. You want to remain blank, showing emotions gives them an advantage. You're good with magic, use it when you're fighting someone, it's your specialty, so use it."

Bella stepped back, "I want you to try and hit me."

Spencer looked down nervously. "I don't want to hit you, Isabella. You've never done anything to deserve to be hit."

Bella smiled, "And neither have you, that is why I'm trying to help you. You're not human anymore Spencer, you're a dragon, use the powers you were given. When I'm fighting someone, I look for a weakness. Vampires, they usually depend on their strength and their speed, and they're usually always cocky, that's the advantage." Bella said she moved back and took on her dragon form. "Take a look at my tail."

Spencer looked down at her tail. "It has spikes, like mine."

Bella nodded, "Not all dragons have this, but for you and me it's our tool. Vampires don't expect anything to be stronger than them, so when you're fighting use your tail. They'll never see it coming, and the spikes will weaken them. And once you have them weakened, you go in for the kill."

Spencer nodded, "What if I can't kill?" He whispered, "What if I can't take a life?"

Bella nodded knowing someone as sensitive as Spencer would have trouble killing. "If you can't, than you won't." Bella stepped forward and put a hand on Spencer's shoulder. "I know the thought of taking a life can be something to fear, I've been in your place, but know that if you do ever take a life, no one will look at you differently. You won't be seen as an evil person."

Spencer nodded, "Thank you, Isabella."

Bella nodded, "Now, take on your form, and let's practice fighting with your tail."

-Page Break-

Bella arranged her dragons around the sight so they stood in a square guarding the ritual sight. "Can you all look at me?" she asked. She watched as they all turned around to face her. "Tonight is very important. As you recall, I am asking you not to kill my father's brother Elijah. I am also asking you not to hurt any humans, they don't stand a chance against any of you, and it would be cruel to hurt someone who cannot fight back. Any vampire or werewolf who tries to force their way in, do what you need to do." Bella took in a deep breath, she hated having to do this, but she knew it was the only way to keep her dragons from running to her rescue.

"I am ordering you to not move from your positions once this ritual begins, unless a threat is made towards my father. Once my father has fully transitioned, you may move freely." Bella said, she watched as the command registered in each of their heads. Bella moved and went to stand towards her father as the ritual was set to begin in minutes. "Do not worry for me, I know what I'm doing." Bella whispered to her father as a warning.

She stepped away and headed towards Elena. Elena crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Bella. "I can't believe you used my brother just to get close to me." Elena said.

Bella shook her head, "You're too shallow for your own good. I love Jeremy, I don't want anything to do with you." Bella pulled out the syringe and looked at the liquid that lay inside. This was the potion she had been working on in the morning and now it was time to put it to work.

Elena cringed back as Bella got closer. "What is that? You're not putting that in me!"

Bella moved quicker than Elena could register, and stabbed the needle into the vein of Elena's arm. She pushed all the liquid into Elena's body. She stepped out of the circle and looked to Elena. "It should take its full affect before it's your turn to be a part of the ritual. The affects will die off directly after it does what is needed."

Elena grabbed at her arm. "You're psychotic you know!" She yelled after Bella. "I'm glad my brother had the right sense of mind not to be with a monster like you!"

Bella paused and turned back to Elena. She took on her dragon form as she walked up to the girl. "I don't care who you are, Elena. To me, you're just a spoiled, egotistical brat, who really needs to learn her place. I suggest you start showing me some respect, because I'm the last person whose bad side you want to get on." Bella walked away and headed to Trevor and where he stood by Spencer near Greta and the ritual altar. "I'm sorry." Bella whispered into Trevor's ear.

"What for?" Trevor questioned.

"For what's going to happen tonight. I'm sorry for not telling you, but this was the best way. The safest way." Bella leaned up and kissed Trevor's cheek. "I want you to forget my earlier statement, I command you to not follow through with my earlier order. I want you to do something else for me instead, I want you to protect Jeremy. That's an order."

Trevor looked to Bella confused. "You're starting to worry me." He admitted.

Bella smiled, "I'll meet you all back at the house when all this is done." Bella patted Trevor on the back, she moved to stand in the middle of the field. She looked around and took in a deep breath getting herself in the right mental state to follow through with what she had planned.

She watched as the werewolf was the first to die. Jules didn't go down easily, she kicked and screamed all the way to the altar. Towards the end she begged to be set free, but she had been chosen.

The random vampire Lily and William found went more peacefully. She wasn't aware of what was happening or what was going on, Bella assumed this was why she didn't put up much of a fight against Klaus. Bella snapped her head to where Trevor was helping Spencer hold back Damon and Bonnie. She met Jeremy's eyes as he appeared just in front of Trevor. She glanced back to the altar for a moment as she saw her father drinking from Elena. Bella looked back to Jeremy, his eyes meeting hers in a plea. Bella closed her eyes as she felt it, the life draining out of her.

Jeremy watched as Bella fell to the ground. "ISA!" Jeremy yelled, he tried to move forward but was held back by Trevor.

"You get near her right now, and you'll have several dragons wanting to come after you." Trevor said, he stood in front of Jeremy as every dragon took on their form. They howled into the sky as they were beginning to feel the hurt from their alpha. Trevor pushed Jeremy back as Melanie who was to his other side made a swipe for Jeremy with her tail.

They were all going into pure animal instinct as they tried to push through the pain. Trevor growled at Melanie in warning. He turned to Jeremy, "You need to leave."

Jeremy shook his head as he looked at Bella who lay lifeless on the floor of the clearing. "Why isn't she moving?"

Trevor glanced at Elena as she gasped back to life. "Because she used her life force to bring your sister back to life. Bella used her life to make sure you still had a sister."

Jeremy shook his head, as tears swelled in his eyes, "No! She can't be dead!"

Trevor turned to Jeremy and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Listen to me carefully, in a few minutes Klaus will finish transitioning, and the alpha command will be done. Your scent is a lot like Bella's and that will lead a lot of us into a frenzy. They don't know what you are to Bella, and they _will_ attack you. I was given an order and I'm going to keep it." Trevor grabbed Jeremy and took off into the sky, he would take him away from the sight away from any potential danger the other dragons may cause.

Klaus's wolf form finished, he treaded up to Bella's body in his wolf form. He used his nose to nudge her head. When no response was given, he bared his teeth and growled.

"I love you dad, but your breath reeks in wolf form. We need to look into wolf mints," Bella said as she came too. She sat up and smiled at her father's wolf form. "I know. We'll talk when you get back." Bella gestured for him to keep going. She watched as her dragons gathered around her.

"It was only temporary." She said, she spread her wings and flapped them. "Let's head home." She said as she flew into the sky. One by one the dragons followed after her.

Trevor landed in front of Jeremy's home and let go of the boy. "She's fine."

"How do you know?" Jeremy said his tone low and threatening as the pain in his chest increased.

"I can feel it." Trevor said simply. "I know you think you and Bella are done with and that there is never going to be a hope for either of you, but know that she asked me to keep you safe. It means something for her to do that."

Jeremy shook his head, "Please, you have to tell her I need to talk to her. I need to know she's okay for myself."

Trevor nodded, "I'll go check on her, just be safe. She'd hate it if something happened to you." Trevor took off into the air and disappeared from sight.

He landed at the house in the backyard as all the dragons were huddled closely together. Blankets were taken out and wrapped around everyone. He noticed Bella sitting with a blanket around her shoulders with Spencer at her side. He took a seat on the other side of Bella. "He's okay." He whispered, "But he's in a bad shape."

Bella nodded, "Just enjoy the bonfire." She said. She smiled as marshmallows were passed around. She waited until the laughing and conversation picked up so that she could leave. She disappeared into the house and walked to her room. She took in a deep breath and closed the door behind her. Pulling out her laptop she decided to not go see Jeremy in person, but in another way. She waited for him to come on screen before she did anything.

"Bella." Jeremy said coming onto the screen. He let out a breath of relief as she was alive. "Isa… I'm so sorry."

Bella shook her head, "Just let me talk." Bella said she took in a deep breath. "I understand you were mad, I would be too, but what you said that was out of line. I may not have told you what I was from the beginning, but that didn't mean I didn't plan on telling you. I was planning on telling you the next day, I just wanted to have a good night with you."

"I know what I said was cruel, and I didn't mean it. I was just angry. Elena, Stefan, Damon, Caroline, and Bonnie, they all just got in my head. I was wrong to let them get me so riled up. I'm sorry for hurting you, Isa. It's the last thing I ever wanted to do." Jeremy said he rubbed his face and leaned back in his computer chair. "You were wrong too. You should have told me from the beginning." Jeremy took in a deep breath. "I don't even know what you are! I get why you didn't come to see me personally, honestly I think it was the best decision. But I do deserve to know the truth, I deserve for you to tell me the truth."

Bella nodded, "Where do you want me to start?"

"The beginning." Jeremy said simply.

"I was born in Washington to Charlie and Renee Swan. They split up when I was a baby, so I travelled with Renee for a while until she settled down in Arizona. I didn't see Charlie often, just in the summers. When I was 17, my mother re-married and I was sent to live with Charlie. Charlie really tried to be a good dad, but his job came first a lot of times. There's a second breed of vampires, they're referred to as Diamonds. Their skin is hard as stone, they shine in sunlight, and their eye color represents their diet. I ran into a coven of animal eaters. I dated one of them his name was Edward. It turns out mixing in with their kind, it brings problems. Unlike Elena, I didn't have a group of friends who knew about the supernatural, I was in it by myself." Bella took in a deep breath.

"I was attacked when I was human by one of their kind. His name was James and he bit me, his venom was close to turning me, but Edward didn't want that so he took the more painful route and sucked the venom out. After that, things changed. I was treated like a child, and watched over every minute by Edward. After an incident at my birthday party, Edward and his family left. I was left with close to no one, all I had was Charlie. James had a mate, which in the supernatural world, is a big deal. If a mate dies, their other half seeks revenge going on a killing spree before they eventually kill themselves. Victoria had one goal, and that was getting my head on a spike as revenge for her mate's death. A pack of shapeshifting wolves protected me for a few months, but after one of them got injured, they gave up. That's when Victoria took the last real person I had, Charlie. She killed him as a sign, as a taunt to tell me that she could kill me at any moment." Bella said she stood from the chair she was in and began to pace the room.

"I couldn't take it anymore, I didn't like living in fear, so I went into the woods one day. I figured if I was going to die, I was going to die on my own terms. That's when it happened. Every creature in the supernatural world has a backstory. I'm a dragon, and the creatures you normally associate with dragons, that's just a made up story to protect the dragon species. The dragon spirits, they choose a new leader, an alpha who can bring the dragon species back to the top. They chose me. It took months for my transition to finish, but when it did, I woke up in a very strange room. Niklaus had found me, he had finally killed Victoria, and he had taken me away." Bella took a seat.

"You might see him as a monster, but he's a father to me." Bella's eyes watered at the thought. "He was there when I had no one, and you don't know how important that is for me. Before Trevor, before anything, he was there for me. He was watching over me since I was a child, and when I needed someone the most, he was there for me. It was so easy for me to see him as my dad. I always came first to him, if I needed something or wanted something, he would help me. You grew up with two loving parents, I grew up with a mother who most days forgot she had me, a father who I saw once a year if I was lucky. Niklaus was the first person I could trust in to always be there for me."

"So when I saw Bonnie trying to kill my father, I had to do something. There are only so many times you can lose someone you love, before you crack. I have an entire species to watch over, Jeremy. There's no one who understands what that feels like better than him. Trevor was the first dragon I created, he was the first true friend I ever had, and he became a brother to me. I changed 11 other dragons. They all knew what they were becoming. I didn't trick them or force them into this life. Everyone I turned was in need of a family, and that's what I gave them when they turned." Bella said as she took in a deep breath doing her best to avoid looking at the screen and seeing Jeremy.

"We're not like vampires or werewolves, we stick close to each other," Bella said, "If one of us is hurt we're all there. It's how we function. We also don't drink blood or kill humans. We're predators, we hunt animals, and drink their blood and eat their meat."

Bella paused as there was silence. "I don't expect anything from you Jeremy. You were right, you deserved to know the truth, and that's what I just gave you. I'll give you time to process this, but I'm going to go."

"Wait!" Jeremy said stopping Bella from logging off. "Just- Next time I call you, can you pick up instead of just sending me to voicemail? I don't want this to be the end."

Bella looked to the screen with a sad expression on her face. "Goodbye, Jeremy."


	7. I Love You

Author's Note

WARNING: The contents of this chapter were completely necessary.

Let's see how this story goes.

Tell me what you think and I hope you enjoy!

-Page Break-

Bella smiled as most of her dragons left to hunt early that morning. Only two had stayed behind, Spencer and Trevor. Spencer had asked Bella to help him learn to fight more, and that was something Bella couldn't deny to do. Trevor had stayed just to make sure Bella was going to be okay throughout the day, after the ritual ended then night before he was worried at some point she'd break.

"You can come hunting with me and Trevor when we go later today." Bella said to Spencer with a smile. "For now, let's get into the fighting. Because you won't hit me at full force, you're going to be hitting Trevor."

Trevor smiled at Spencer. "Don't worry, I don't bruise easily."

Bella smiled and followed the two boys outside, "You're going to fight in a moment, just watch for a second and see how Trevor and I fight."

Bella and Trevor looked at each other as they only stood a few feet from one another. "On the count of three." Bella said as she got ready to fight.

Trevor nodded, he counted off in his head and he took his transformation just as Bella did. He crouched down and growled to be met by Bella's growl. His instinct was to back down, but he knew Bella wanted this so she could teach Spencer a few things. He dodged her tail that came to swipe at his feet, but he didn't have enough time to dodge the hit that came for his gut. He growled out, but didn't break out of his fighting stance, he too used his tail and made a swipe for her ankles in an attempt to knock her over.

Bella smiled and jumped, she twirled around just in time and hit Trevor in the neck with her tail. She landed on top of him and had her foot to his neck. "You're really losing your touch."

Trevor grabbed her foot and threw her off of him. "I'm not losing anything, you're just too good to fight against."

Bella smiled and stood up. "Well, that's a nice compliment." Bella looked to Spencer. "This was short, but you'll be going longer when you fight with Trevor. Use your instincts, let your body tell you what to do. I'll be correcting your stance and your movements from the sidelines." Bella patted Spencer on the back and pushed him towards Trevor. "Don't hold back, Spencer, give him everything you have."

Spencer nodded he straightened his shoulders and faced Trevor. He took on the same stance Bella had before and got ready to fight.

Bella watched as he moved, she tilted as she saw he could really easily do everything Trevor was doing. It seemed to her he could easily mimic someone's movement, something she knew could be of great use when fighting. His movements weren't entirely perfect, but they were good.

-Page Break-

Klaus walked up the Gilbert house and knocked on the door deciding to be civil. He stepped back as it opened and he saw Elena's glare. "Hello, love."

Elena went to close the door, but Klaus stretched out his hand and stopped her from doing so. "What do you want?" She said through gritted teeth, her glare towards Klaus growing more heated.

Klaus smirked, "No need to worry, love, I didn't come to speak to you this morning. I came to speak to that brother of yours, is he home?"

"You're not getting anywhere near, Jeremy." Elena said her voice filled with anger. She slammed the door shut on Klaus locking it for extra precaution.

Klaus's eyes turned murderous as he wasn't one to enjoy being treated so rudely, he was about to think of a way to break in but paused as he heard rustling from the side of the house. A smirk came across his face as who he assumed to be Jeremy now approached him.

"You wanted to talk?" Jeremy said as he stared at the original. The fact that he was a very powerful original wasn't what was making him nervous. Jeremy was more nervous on the fact that he was Bella's father.

Klaus smirked, "That I did, let's take a walk. I don't wish for your sister to interrupt us."

Jeremy nodded, he walked beside Klaus in silence. He sighed out in annoyance as minutes passed and nothing was said, so he decided to break the silent. "I'm guessing you really must hate me."

Klaus chuckled, "Not particularly, no." Klaus looked around. "Isabella is a daughter to me as I'm sure you're aware of. I care very deeply for her, and no father enjoys seeing their daughter hurt. I will admit that I hold very negative feelings towards you when it comes to her. You hurt her and if it were anyone else I would've had their head by now, but my daughter loves you. She's not one to hand out her love easily and so I believe that you must be worthy of it in someway."

"So what are you here for?" Jeremy questioned as he looked around seeing as how they were walking around aimlessly. "I'm guessing you came here for a reason."

"Yes, you're quite right." Klaus responded with a smirk. "Do I make you nervous, Mr. Gilbert?"

"Yes, but it's less of the fact that you're an original, and more to do with you being Bella's father." Jeremy replied with a shrug. "No guy supernatural or not likes meeting the father of the girl they're in love with."

Klaus chuckled at his words. "I suspect that is something to be nervous about. Though at this point I highly doubt anything I say or do will stop Isabella from seeing you. You were right, Mr. Gilbert I am here for something. Isabella is going to try everything in her power to try and push you away. Not because she doesn't feel anything for you, but because she feels as if it isn't worth it anymore. I'm here to ask that you not give up on my daughter. She loves you, but it just happens to be a tough emotion for her to deal with. I've always believe love is a weakness, and it seems that thought has creeped its way into Isabella's mind. Do not let her push you away, do whatever it takes to keep her, I can assure you she's worth it."

Jeremy smiled, "She's more than worth it." He replied. "I get that we left things off on a bad side, but know that when I say that I love your daughter I mean it. I don't want to be without her, so I will do anything I have to in order to be with her."

Jeremy looked at Klaus fully. "She's all I can think about anymore, and you have no idea how much it hurts to know that I made her so sad. All I really want her to be is happy, and I know that I can make her happy. I just have to wait for her to come around, I'm sure you know she's still avoiding seeing me. I really messed things up between us."

"Don't take all the blame." Klaus said, he would have to take a more direct approach on this matter. As he saw things now, his daughter would only keep her distance and Jeremy wouldn't invade her space in a move to respect her. They would both tiptoe around each other until one of them made a move, and because Jeremy was too afraid of losing Bella he wouldn't make the first move. So Klaus would nudge him in the right direction.

-Page Break-

Bella smiled as Trevor and Spencer continued on with their fighting as Spencer was becoming better as the minutes passed. She headed to the door as she heard the doorbell ring. She figured it was her father that wanted to talk about his transformation the night before. She opened the door, but stood shocked as it wasn't her father.

"Jeremy?" Bella questioned as she looked at him wondering how he had figured out where she was.

"Your dad dropped some not so subtle hints that this is where you were staying." Jeremy said, he ran his hand through his hair nervously. "I just wanted to see you. You scared me and talking to you through a screen isn't as good as in person."

Bella smiled, "It's not the same." She agreed, she didn't realize how much seeing Jeremy in person would take away all her negative feelings. Just being close to him was making her feel better. Bella stepped closer and hugged Jeremy. Pressing her head into the curve of his neck and taking in his scent.

Jeremy hugged Bella keeping her close to him. "I missed this. I missed you. I'm sorry, Isa."

Bella nodded. "It sucked." She mumbled lightly. "It really hurt what you said."

"I didn't mean it. I could never mean what I said." Jeremy said he kissed Bella's head. "I think you're beautiful and way out of my league. I didn't think of you as a monster, I never could. You'll always be amazing in my eyes, Isa."

Bella sighed. "It still hurts." She admitted, she stepped back and looked at Jeremy. "This feeling of hurt, it's still there. What if I can't get rid of it? What if I can never forget what you said to me and I just can't let it all go?"

"I don't want you to let it go. I just want you to understand that I love you, and I think you're the most amazing person on this planet. I want you to remember that I was hurt so I acted out, it's what I do, but no matter what I say or do I'll always love you and you'll always be the most incredible person to me." Jeremy replied.

Bella sighed, "Jeremy I can't…"

Jeremy moved forward not allowing her to finish her sentence. He put his arms around her and crashed his lips onto hers. He kissed her wanting to make her feel what he felt, he needed her to stop backing away from him. He wasn't going to allow her to do it any longer, her father had a point and he had to stop her from pulling away. Jeremy pulled back from their kiss but kept his arms tightly around her securing her to him. "I get it, you're scared and so am I, but I won't let you go and you won't be able to push me away."

"Technically I can push you away, I have a lot more strength than you." Bella responded with a small smile.

Jeremy smiled, "But you won't use it. You feel the same way I do, and being apart really sucks."

Bella nodded, "We can try again."

Jeremy grinned. "Good cause it would have sucked to have had come all this way and not convince you. And I'm sure your dad would have my head if I wasn't able to get you to see that we have was worth it."

"My dad had a talk with you?" Bella questioned curiously, at Jeremy's nod she laughed. "He didn't scare you did he?"

"Oh he terrified me." Jeremy said with a smile. "But he cares a lot about you, he was the one that led me all the way here."

"If we're to do this again, you should know that I really hate your sister." Bella said suddenly.

Jeremy laughed, "I figured. With the way she's been acting lately I can understand." He paused and his face turned into a frown. "Did you really give her your life?"

Bella shrugged. "There's only one way to kill me, and I have to be the one to do it. I didn't kill Elena or myself so I figured it was a perfect loophole. It's worn off by now, she's no longer tied to me in any way."

Jeremy sighed, "Don't do that again. Please. You have no idea how much it hurt to see you dead, and there was nothing I could do to help you."

Bella nodded, "Never again."

-Page Break-

Bella sat close to Jeremy's side as they watched Trevor and Spencer continue on with their training. Bella looked over to Jeremy who was watching the two intently. "It's cool right?"

Jeremy nodded, he looked to Bella. "Why don't you refer to Charlie as your father?" Jeremy questioned curiously as he felt he needed to know more about her.

Bella sighed, "I loved Charlie, Jeremy. He was a great man, but I wasn't his first concern. I never was. It was Renee first and when she left him, it was his job that came first. When I went to go live with him, he tried to be a good dad, but he still didn't really care about me. I was a second priority, his job came first to him and it's easier to just see him as Charlie than to try and force myself to see him as my father."

"And this Edward guy?" Jeremy questioned. "Did you love him?"

Bella looked to Jeremy and sighed. "Do you really want to know?"

Jeremy nodded, "I want to know everything about you, Isa."

Bella took in a deep breath, "I loved Edward. There was a time I would do anything he asked of me. I was so hopelessly in love with him, that I ignored all the manipulative things he would do to me. Edward was my first love, but he was also my first heartbreak. When he left me, it broke me. I felt dead inside, like nothing else really mattered because he wasn't there. Then he became less important when the lives of everyone around me were put in danger. When Charlie died, I lost it. The way I see, it was Edward's fault this had all happened to me. If he had just listened and killed Victoria when he had a chance Charlie wouldn't have died. If he had just let me turn, I wouldn't have been so weak. All that ever mattered to Edward was what he wanted, what he believed and his wishes. That became clear to me and came to hate him for it. When Nik came along, he helped me deal with everything that was happening, and everything I was dealing with. I saw Edward again before I moved to Mystic Falls, he was with his family in Alaska. None of them saw me, but I saw them. I wanted to hate him, but when I saw him again I couldn't find it in myself to hate him. I still held feelings for him and that was the scariest thing I knew. I haven't seen Edward since, and I can honestly tell you Jeremy that I no longer hold any feelings for him. You changed that."

"How?" Jeremy questioned. "By the sound of it you really loved him and not that long ago you still held feelings for him, so how could that change so quickly?"

"As alpha dragon, I was given two potential mates. Two different men who had the potential to help me, to keep me balanced. Edward was the first mate, because Edward and I ended that didn't mean the bond of mates was truly destroyed. I hadn't truly claimed someone as my mate, yet. That meant I would still hold feelings for Edward until I did. Once I claimed a mate, all feelings for Edward would be gone because he would no longer be a potential mate." Bella replied she played with her hands as she knew Jeremy was piecing everything together.

"I'm the other potential mate." Jeremy whispered he looked to Bella as he caught what she had implied. "You claimed me?"

Bella blushed lightly. "It wasn't something I could help but do. I knew you were it when we met, I wouldn't have been able to claim you unless you had already on some level done the same for me."

"I claimed you? How?" Jeremy questioned.

"When you kissed me. It cemented it, you cemented your claim on me. You're human, but some part of you knew it was meant for more and you staked your claim before anyone else could." Bella replied simply.

"I'm supposed to become like you, a dragon." Jeremy questioned curiously.

"If it's what you want. I won't force you to do anything, Jeremy. You'll always have a choice to make, and I won't try and make it for you." Bella replied, she stood up and held out her hand to him. "Trevor, Spencer and I are going to go hunting. Do you want to tag along?"

"My life won't be in danger?" Jeremy questioned as he took her hand and stood.

Bella shook her head. "We don't harm humans, Jeremy. And we're not that violent of creatures the only time we get violent is when one of us is put in danger or someone tries to take our food away." Bella smiled at him. "You'll be fine, I promise."

-Page Break-

Bella led Jeremy away from Spencer and Trevor. "Trev can be very competitive when it comes to hunting, so I'm sure he and Spencer will be fighting for who could get the biggest animal."

"How often do you have to hunt?" Jeremy questioned as he walked beside Bella.

"I have to hunt about once a week, being alpha it takes a lot out of me. The other dragons they don't have to hunt as often. Many of them can hunt once a month and be fine, but it's different with me. If I don't hunt every week I can get very angry and cranky."

"So this is why you eat a lot of meat filled products?" Jeremy questioned with a smirk. "Why you're always so picky with whatever you eat."

Bella smiled, "I can't help it, I need meat and I need animal blood to survive. And with these enhanced abilities, I can taste every chemical in a burger and some are just outright awful."

Jeremy laughed, "You really are something special, Isa."

Bella turned and looked to Jeremy with a smile. "You really think so?"

Jeremy stopped in his tracks he leaned down and attached his lips to Bella's. He kissed her wanting to show her every emotion he had built up inside, all the love he truly held her for he wanted to let her feel it. "No matter what I might have said before, know that I didn't mean it all. I see you as the most amazing person in the world and that will never change."

Bella smiled, she reached up and ran her hand down Jeremy's cheek. "I'm incredibly scared." She admitted.

"Of what? I thought you were the strongest creature out there, what do you have to be scared of?" Jeremy asked.

"You." Bella responded simply. "I have to take on my dragon form, and I'm afraid I'll see disgust in your eyes. I'm afraid of feeling hurt again, I can't feel that sort of pain twice, Jeremy."

Jeremy took in a deep breath. "I know, and I will do whatever it takes to make sure you don't feel that way again, I promise."

Bella nodded she took a step back and away from Jeremy. "Are you sure?" Jeremy nodded and watched as Bella closed her eyes. He watched in utter amazement as her wings appeared stretching out behind her. Her large tail appearing and falling perfectly behind her, her horns appearing at the top of her head. She opened her eyes and watched nervously as Jeremy stepped closer.

Jeremy smiled at her. "Why are they multiple colors? Trevor's were only one color and so was everyone else's."

Bella returned his smile with one of her own. "Every color represents a specific trait, something each dragon is exceptionally good at. Because I'm Alpha I hold all the traits, therefore my dragon form takes on every color to represent my status over there's."

Jeremy nodded, he ran his hands down Bella's cheek. "How is it you make being a dragon look hot?"

Bella laughed loudly at his words and her entire body relaxed as she could feel him completely accepting her. "You might want to turn away, this is the messy part and I mean messy."

Jeremy shook his head. "I came to watch you, not to turn the other way and to watch the trees."

Bella sighed, "Fine, but if it gets too graphic for you I'd understand if you turn away."

Jeremy rolled his eyes, "I really doubt it's going to be so bad."

Bella shrugged her shoulders. "You can believe whatever you wish." She smiled and turned her head. She took in deep breath as she could hear the several deer coming her way. She jumped up her wings flapping in the wind as she hovered just above the three deer. Using her tail she grabbed one snapping its neck instantly. She came back down and sunk her fangs into its flesh.

Bella closed her eyes as the warm blood from the animal trickled down her throat. She felt the last drops of the blood enter her mouth and she opened her eyes. She glanced at Jeremy who to her surprise was still watching. Not wanting to see the look on his eyes when she bit into the animal, she closed her eyes. Her fangs cut into the flesh of the animal and she could feel the blood that had stuck to the tissue make a mess all over her face. She continued to eat only the parts she liked, she threw the body away from her and stood.

She looked to the other deer and she moved quickly tackling it onto the floor. She sunk her fangs into its neck letting its blood seep into her mouth. She truly did need to feed, the night before had taken more out of her than she expected and now that she started she wasn't sure when she would be able to stop.

Bella opened her eyes their colors switching constantly as she took in a deep breath of relief as she was full. Her eyes went back to their original brown and she sighed in relief as she saw Jeremy was still there. "I'm not going to lie, I really thought you would have ran away."

Jeremy chuckled, and stepped forward, "I thought it was the greatest thing I've ever seen." He wiped a drop of blood off of Bella's cheek. He softly smiled at the amount of dried blood around her mouth. "You really make a mess, though."

Bella laughed, "Yeah, come on there's a stream not that far from here where I can wipe away some of this blood." Bella turned around to walk away but stopped when Jeremy grabbed her hand. He tangled their fingers together. She watched as he stepped closer and slowly kissed her.

Bella looked at Jeremy in complete astonishment as he pulled back. "You- I have blood all over my mouth."

Jeremy chuckled, "I'm well aware, but I really wanted to do that." He motioned in front of them. "Lead the way."

Bella smiled she moved and stood closely to Jeremy's side as their hands stayed tangled together. She looked up at him and smiled. "I love you, Jeremy. Please, don't take that lightly."

Jeremy looked down at Bella and smiled. "I love you, Isa." He replied he leaned down and kissed her head that being all that Bella needed to help her understand that he wasn't going to leave her.

-Page Break-

Bella entered her father's study, she smiled as she approached him on his desk. "What are you doing, Papa Nikki?"

Klaus looked up from the computer in front of him and looked at Bella curiously. "You certainly seem to be in a better mood. Something change?"

Bella rolled her eyes at her dad. "Please, you and I both know what has changed. You practically pushed us back together."

"I wouldn't say push, more like nudge." Klaus responded he turned to his daughter with a large smirk on his face. "I'm assuming you and the boy are okay?"

Bella nodded her head she hopped up on the edge of the desk and looked to her dad. "Thank you, I would have probably avoided him until I couldn't breathe anymore."

Klaus nodded, "I figured as much. I'd do anything to see you happy, sweetheart."

Bella smiled, "So you're willing to walk me down the aisle tomorrow night?"

Klaus's eyes widened at Bella's words. "Don't you think it's a little soon to be getting married?"

"No, not at all." Bella responded her face turning serious. "In fact, Jeremy and I have decided to do it as soon as possible, so it might happen tonight not tomorrow."

"Isabella, I think you have to really think on this." Klaus said standing up to look at his daughter. His expression was filled with worry as he looked at her worried she could be rushing things too soon.

Bella smiled at her dad, "Calm down, papa Nikki, I was only joking. Getting married at such a young age isn't something I want to do. I just thought this was going to be funny, so what were you doing before I came in here?"

Klaus took his seat again and looked back to the computer. "I'm having a few things shipped to me."

"Are you talking about four coffin shaped jails?" Bella said with excitement as this must mean he was coming close to wakening his family.

Klaus nodded. "I'm not sure I want to wake them, but I figured if I did I could do it here of all places."

Bella smiled, "That would be fun. Whatever happened to Elijah?"

"I bit him and when I came back to my regular form I daggered him." Klaus responded, "He deserved it."

Bella nodded in agreement. "He deserves a lot of things. Getting hit in the face with a bat would be the top of the list I would say."

Klaus chuckled, "I agree, but he is family. It would be rude to knock his head off upon his awakening."

Bella smiled and shrugged, "I don't know, I think it would be interesting to see."

"Where are your dragons?" Klaus questioned curiously.

"In town. They're showing a movie or something, you know how this town does up their celebrations. They wanted to join in on the festivities. I'm meeting Jeremy later to join him." Bella responded as she swung her feet about. She smiled at her father. "You want to join the rest of the dragons? They really like you, I mean you should hear how they talk about you sometimes. They think you're this super cool person. I'm not saying that you aren't super cool, but I swear these guys idolize you."

Klaus chuckled, he shut his laptop. "Let's go. I'll buy you an ice cream."

Bella rolled her eyes. "I'm not five, dad!" Bella followed him out the door. "Besides, I just got back from hunting, I don't think I can eat anything for a while."

"I thought you were just with the boy?" Klaus questioned.

"Stop calling him, 'the boy' his name is Jeremy." Bella said, "And I was with him, he came with us to hunt, but then we sort of got into the water, so I had to take him home so he could get cleaned up. I told him I'd meet him in town once I showered and changed. I also really just wanted to stop by and thank you. Now that I've done all that we can go into town."

-Page Break-

Jeremy shook his head as he had been walking in silence beside his sister, Bonnie and Caroline into town. Once he announced he was heading into town to join the festivities they had immediately tagged along, and as much as he tried he couldn't get them to leave him alone. He only hoped he saw his Isa soon or one the dragons. Then he could detach himself from the three of them and hopefully have a good night.

"Ugh, come on let's head in the other direction." Elena said once she spotted Trevor knowing if he was nearby Bella wouldn't be far.

"I couldn't agree more!" Bonnie said with a glare towards Trevor.

Jeremy turned his head and sighed in relief as he saw Trevor. "You guys can go, I'm going to go hang out with Trevor."

Elena grabbed her brother's arm preventing him from moving forward. "Jeremy! You came to spend time with us!"

Jeremy released his arm from Elena and glared at his sister. "No, I came to spend time with my girlfriend and her family. You three just tagged along without an invitation."

"That thing is not your girlfriend!" Elena practically shouted at her brother.

Jeremy glared at his sister. "Her name is Bella." He stepped closer to his sister and glared down at her. "I love her, Elena. All of her. Nothing you say or do is going to keep me away from her, not ever. I suggest you watch how you talk about her, because I won't be the only one who's going to be angry. If you even remember what it is to be a sister you should be happy that your brother found someone like her. You know nothing about Bella, so don't pretend to. She's a better person than anyone in this town, she risked her life for you, and yet you treat her as if she's less than you."

Jeremy shook his head and took a step away from his sister and her friends. "If it comes down to it, Elena, I'll choose her over you. You're my sister and I love you, but my everything belongs to Bella. I can't and I won't live without her. If you want anything to do with me, if any of you do, then you'll learn to accept Bella, because I won't continue to deal with your behavior towards her. I love her, and I'll stand by her side against anything, including you." Jeremy put his hands in his pocket and walked away from his sister. He walked over to where Trevor sat with the other dragons, he knew they had heard everything he said but he kept quiet and so did they.

To Jeremy's surprise all the dragons introduced themselves to him, and he doubted he needed to introduce himself to them, it was clear they had pieced together who he was. He took a seat beside Trevor and watched as the other dragons continued on with the activities. "Why are you sitting by yourself?" Jeremy questioned as he looked to Trevor.

Trevor shrugged, "It's my job." He replied simply. "When Isabella isn't around I watch over them. It's an unspoken rule. Because I'm the oldest dragon and Isabella's right hand guy, I take care of them when she isn't around. Once she does arrive I'll join them and so will she."

Jeremy smiled, "She's really good at this, isn't she?"

Trevor nodded, "The best. She takes care of all of us. Isabella has saved each and every one of us from living lonely and miserable lives. When I met her, I was living in a foster home. I was bullied every day of my life, until she came along. The foster home I was in," Trevor shook his head at the memories. "It was hell. I got hit every day, I was moments away from ending my life. Isabella changed all of that. She went to school with me and made sure no one said one word against me. She became my best friend and my protector almost as soon as we met. Before I became a dragon, she treated me as family. She gave me a second chance at a new life. One with family and love. I wasn't some weak human whose only dream was to die anymore, I was stronger. I owe her my life. We all do."

Jeremy nodded. "Did you meet him?"

Trevor looked to Jeremy with a questioning look. "The guy before you?"

Jeremy nodded, "I know they were together when they were human, but did you ever see him?"

Trevor shook his head. "No. She keeps that part of her life under lock and key. I doubt Klaus has even met him and he's her father. You're not intimidated by this guy, are you?"

Jeremy chuckled, "No. I was just curious. You seem to know everything about her, I thought maybe you had seen him too. I also thought you might've gone to see him when she wasn't looking."

Trevor laughed, "Yeah, and get her angry when she did eventually find out. Not a chance. I don't know everything about her, I know what she tells me. I think in a short amount of time you'll know more than me."

Jeremy was about to response when he could practically feel Bella approaching. He turned his head to the side and saw her making her way towards them with her dad. "Does he ever scare you?" Jeremy whispered to Trevor.

Trevor shrugged. "Not really, he's actually pretty cool. I just think it's different with you, because you're dating his little girl. The love he has for her is strong and he's going to naturally be protective of her. It'll pass at some point in time."

"I don't think so." Jeremy replied, he stood up and walked over to them. He smiled as Bella leaned up and kissed his cheek as soon as he approached. He turned to Klaus who just nodded towards him and walked away. "Is he always going to seem to hate me?"

Bella laughed. "He likes you, he just doesn't want to admit it." Bella took his hand in hers and led him back towards the dragons. Jeremy noticed the difference now. Trevor had joined the dragons now and they all seemed to be more relaxed with Bella around. Bella took a seat next to Jeremy, smiling as his arm went around her. She leaned into his side as she enjoyed the way things were playing out.

-Page Break-

Jeremy groaned in annoyance as his phone rang again, making it the fifth time Elena had called him. He looked to Bella who had stopped walking and was looking at him curiously. "It's Elena." He said simply.

"Answer it, it might be enough to get her to leave you alone." Bella replied she looked over Jeremy's shoulder and noticed her dad, Trevor and Sean making their way towards them. She could hear Elena crying and several shouts around her. She focused her hearing and managed to catch what Elena was saying. Damon was going crazy, and was attacking the town. She was wondering if Jeremy had seen him in town.

"No, Elena I haven't seen him." Jeremy paused and closed his eyes as his patience with his sister was running thin. "Yes, if I see him or if I see a trail of dead bodies that could be leading to him I'll call you." He hung up and looked to Bella. "It seems Damon went rabid or something."

Bella smiled at Jeremy. "If you want, I can help you look for him."

"It doesn't seem worth it. Let's continue and head over to see some of the live performances." Jeremy replied with a smile. He put his arm around Bella's waist and continued to walk. He could hear the voices of Trevor, Sean and Klaus behind them, but was glad the three weren't disturbing his time with Bella. Jeremy pulled Bella back as a body came flying past them and into the alleyway. Bella moved forward outstretching her hand and stopping Damon in his tracks as her hand wrapped around his throat. She moved and forced him up against the wall.

Bella turned to her dad. "Mind checking on the human and compelling them to forget?"

"Or I could just finish his job and kill them." Klaus responded as he headed into the alleyway.

Bella smiled lightly at her dad's words. Her hold tightening around Damon's throat as he was trying to break free. She looked to Sean, "Check around here to make sure no one saw anything and that there aren't any dead bodies around." Bella watched Sean walk away. She looked to Trevor and motioned at the building she had Damon held up against. "Want to break in?"

Trevor smirked, "My pleasure."

"I guess I have to call Elena back." Jeremy said, he stepped closer and kissed Bella's cheek. "That was really cool by the way."

Bella smiled, "Really glad you think so." She followed Jeremy into the building and rolled her eyes as it was the grill. She threw Damon onto one of the tables. "Do yourself a favor and don't do anything stupid."

Bella walked over to Trevor about to send him to tell the other dragons to stay away from this part of the town. The last thing she needed was for them to be involved in a crime scene. Bella turned her head and her eyes widened as everything seemed to play out in slow motion.

Sheriff Forbes made her way in, a gun in her hands. She got ready to shoot thinking she was aiming it for Damon. She pressed her finger on the trigger the instant she met Damon's eyes. The bullet flew through the air, missing Damon as he blurred out of the way.

Bella moved quickly, but it was useless as the bullet hit Jeremy in the chest. Bella fell to her knees catching Jeremy as he hit the ground. She lifted his head slightly. "Jeremy." She whimpered as she pushed away the stray hairs on his head. "Jeremy, please."

"I…" Jeremy coughed up blood his eyes were filled with tears as he knew this was the end of him. "Love…" He tried to breathe to get the last word out he needed her to hear it. "You."

Bella shook her head as the sheriff was making her way to them, she growled in pure anger as she shoved Sheriff Forbes back causing the woman to fly back into a wall. Bella moved and lay Jeremy's head down. She looked down at him his heart was beating slow, but she still had a chance. "I'm really sorry, but I can't lose you. Not you."

With tears streaming down her face, Bella transformed into her dragon form. She moved Jeremy's head to the side exposing his neck to her. She wasted no time and bit into him. Pushing all the venom she could muster into his system. She pulled back and wiped her mouth as the venom had gotten everywhere. She looked at his chest where the bullet had hit and saw all the blood covering his chest. Her hands trembled as she ripped apart his shirt and saw the bullet hole. If the venom worked, his body would heal before he completed his transition and she didn't want him to forever have a bullet in his chest. Her fangs disappeared and she put her mouth over the wound, she sucked the bullet out and pushed a bit of venom in to help heal the wound.

Bella reached up and caressed Jeremy's cheek. "Come on, Jeremy." She said as she wanted to hear his heart beat faster signaling his change. "Please don't leave me, Jeremy. You promised." She said with tears in her eyes as his heart began to slow down even more. "NO!" She shouted as his heart stopped, tears streamed down her face as she could no longer hear his heart beating. She moved to hover over him and began to try CPR on him, she couldn't let him go without a fight.

Bella felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist pulling her to stand. She knew it was her dad, but she fought anyway. "He can't be dead." She whimpered as she stopped fighting Klaus. "He promised."

Klaus wrapped his arms around his daughter. "I know, sweetheart. There's still a chance, don't give up on him."

Bella pulled away from her father and looked to Trevor and Sean who were standing motionless as they didn't know what to do. They could feel the pain from their Alpha and it was close to crippling them. She looked to Sean, "I want you to get the sheriff out of here before I rip her damn head off and put on a spike for the town to see." Sean nodded and roughly pulled the Sheriff to a stand and pulled her out of the Grill as she was still trying to get to Jeremy.

Bella turned to Trevor. "I want you to take Damon back to his house, and make sure to do it roughly. I'll deal with him personally."

Trevor nodded and he roughly grabbed Damon's arm dragging him out of the Grill. He purposely broke the vampire's arm after he tried to escape.

Bella turned to her dad. "Can you steal a car? I want to take him home." Bella's voice cracked and the tears returned to her eyes. "I have six days. If he's not back by then…"

Klaus nodded he saw his daughter visibly falling apart as she spoke. "It'll only be a moment."

Bella kneeled back down beside Jeremy, she didn't hold back her sobbing. She leaned down to his ear. "You can't leave me. I love you, Jeremy. Don't take that away, you have to hold on. Please, for me. I can't do this without you, Jeremy."


	8. Six Days

Author's Note

Well, I hope this chapter can answer any questions you've been having. If you still have questions please PM me and I'll get back to you soon.

Tell me what you think, and I hope you enjoy!

-Page Break-

 **Day One**

Bella stared on at Jeremy as he lay on her bed, her entire being was praying he was going to make it. She could tell that her dragons were wishing for the same from what she could feel from them. Bella pushed the hair out Jeremy's face, she hated not being able to see his eyes. To not be able to see the life in them, she shook her head, he didn't deserve this. Bella leaned down and kissed his forehead before she stood up and backed away from the bed. She looked to her father who had taken a spot in the corner of the room. A book was on his lap as he kept an eye on the boy and on his daughter.

"He's going to make it." Bella said as she walked towards her father.

Klaus looked up at her and raised an eyebrow in question. "Do you really believe that?" He questioned curiously.

Bella nodded, she looked back towards Jeremy, "I have to believe it, it's all I have left." She moved and sat down on the floor resting her head on her dad's knee. "When I was in my coma you chose to believe that I would come back, you could have put me in a coffin and buried me, but you didn't. You believed I was going to make it, even when everything suggested otherwise. I have to do the same for him. The thought of him not coming back, it makes me sick. I have to believe that he's going to be okay, because without him I know I won't make it."

Klaus nodded, "Have you slept at all?"

Bella shook her head, "I was up all night watching over him. I wanted to see if there was going to be any sign that he would be okay. I'll probably take a nap later, but I won't be leaving this room anytime soon."

"According to Maddox, his sister and her friends are looking for him." Klaus mentioned. "They're going all over town looking for him. Apparently the Sheriff shared with them what she saw and they're looking for you."

Bella rolled her eyes, "Let them look all they want. They won't find me, and if by some chance they do I won't let them take Jeremy away. He needs to be here and I need to be with him."

"And what about Damon?" Klaus questioned curiously. "Have you figured out why he went crazy?"

Bella nodded, "I've been doing a lot of thinking and I figured out what must've happened to him. I think one of my dragons bit him during the ritual. The venom is currently killing him slowly and it's driving him insane. He shouldn't be a problem though, he'll be in too much pain right now to really do any damage."

"You're going to let him die? I would've thought you would want some sort of revenge." Klaus replied he shut his book to put his full attention on Bella. "It really looked like you wanted him and the Sheriff dead."

Bella smiled, "I do want revenge, but I have a good few days before the venom kills him, I'll go save him soon and then when I do I'll bite him again. I'll let him drown in pain, and when Jeremy wakes up, I'll let him choose on whether or not the vampire gets to live or not. It was Jeremy's life that was put on the line, so it'll be Jeremy to decide."

"And the sheriff?" Klaus questioned curiously. "What do you plan to do with her?"

"Rip her head off and play baseball with it." Bella replied with a glare at the thought of the person who had killed Jeremy. "I'll let her be, she's human and I'm not going to torture a human. No matter how much of an idiot she was."

Time passed and Bella watched her father leave the room as he need some blood. She moved and got on the bed beside Jeremy. She had brought him to her room for the sole reason that she needed him to be close and protected and this was the best place for that. Tears formed in her eyes as she looked at his motionless body, nothing had ever hurt as much as seeing him this way. She now understand that she could never truly live without him, and if he were to die, she would die too.

 **Day Two**

Bella took a washcloth and cleaned off some off Jeremy's face. She ran her fingers down his cheek and sighed. "I hate this." She whispered as set the washcloth to the side. She took in a deep breath as her chest felt constricted. She had stopped herself from crying anymore, that was the last thing she felt like doing.

"My dragons like you." Bella said to Jeremy feeling the need to speak to him, it made her feel like he was still there with her. "They'd feel it if you died. I think they can already feel you as my mate. They already know you're one of us."

Bella sighed out as she pushed back the hair on Jeremy's face as it always seemed to cover his eyes. "Maybe when you wake up I can convince you to cut your hair." Bella smiled at the thought. She leaned down and kissed his forehead. She stood up and sat on the chair she had moved to sit at the side of the bed.

She leaned back as she really needed to sleep, but every time she tried she would only wake up instantly in a panic. The memory of seeing Jeremy shot, of seeing as the life left his eyes haunted her constantly. Even as a dragon she didn't need to sleep much, but she was still pushing it as it was.

Bella rubbed her eyes as she curled up into a ball on the chair. She yawned as her body was commanding sleep, but she knew nothing good would come from it. All she felt after her short minutes of sleep was pain and fear rather than feeling any better.

Bella closed her eyes as she tried to fight the overwhelming need to sleep. Just as she was close to sleep, she heard the knock on her door and stood up. She wiped her eyes before she answered and smiled as it was Trevor. "Hey, Trev."

"Hey." Trevor replied giving a small smile. "I just wanted to tell you that some of us are going to be going into town. We don't have groceries and we thought we'd go see what we could get."

Bella nodded, "If you can, try and see what the town is saying about Jeremy's disappearance."

Trevor nodded, "I'll see what I can dig up. Is there anything else you're going to need?"

Bella shook her head. "No thank you, Trevor. I'll be fine."

Trevor nodded, "We're all hoping he makes it. Everyone really liked him when they met him."

Bella smiled sadly. "He's going to make it, we just have to wait. Be careful when you go into town I don't want any of you caught up in any sort of trouble. I'm sure the Sheriff is eager to get one of us locked up for Damon's madness. I wouldn't put it past them to try and blame one of us for the murders in town."

Trevor nodded, "We'll be back soon."

 **Day Three**

Bella was filled with anger as Trevor had told her the day before that the Sheriff along with the Mystic Falls gang was trying to pin all the murders on the arriving of a gang in town. A gang they had told everyone Trevor was the leader of and all her dragons were a part of. They were trying to convince the Mayor to believe they were a hazard to the town in an attempt to run them out of town.

She had told everyone to no longer head into town until she had everything dealt with. She looked over to Jeremy and shook her head. She didn't want to leave him, but she had to do something. The last thing she wanted was for this one town to ruin everything she had worked for.

There was a loud knock on the door and Bella rushed over to open it. Trevor stood there beside her father. "Just came to tell you that your father is here."

Bella nodded she looked back to Jeremy and sighed. "I need you to stay in here and watch over him for me. My dad and I will be stepping out for a moment."

Trevor nodded his head, "Yeah, I can do that. Everyone is downstairs watching a movie so we'll all be okay."

Bella nodded she smiled at Trevor, "Thank you." She said as she looked back to Jeremy and her chest tightened at the thought of leaving him for even a few minutes, but it was something she needed to do. As much as she loved him, she couldn't let her dragons be in any sort of danger.

Bella took her father's hand and led him downstairs and out of the house. She got into the passenger seat of his car and turned to her father as he got in after her. "Can you take me to the Mayor's house?"

Klaus looked at her curiously. "Is there a reason behind your visit to the Mayor?"

Bella smiled, "I just want to make a few things clear to her."

Klaus smirked at the look on his daughter's face. It was one he wore often, but he knew very well she was only doing this to hide the pain she was feeling. "And what am I going along for?"

"I don't want to kill her, but my emotions are everywhere right now. I know you'd be the only one who could stop me from killing her." Bella replied honestly. She looked out the window as she let her dad drive. Her mind instantly drifted off to Jeremy, as it seemed he was the only thing that could preoccupy her mind anymore.

Arriving at the Lockwood Mansion Bella got out of the car quickly. A smirk made its way to her face as she saw the Sheriff's car in the driveway. "I guess I get to kill two birds with one stone."

As they approached the front door Bella could hear the voices coming from inside, she paused and listened in on the conversation.

"You don't understand, Carol! These _things_ are dangerous. No one knows what they are and they're just running wild in town. They took Jeremy for God's sake!" Liz Forbes yelled as she was trying to make the Mayor see reason.

"You have no proof!" Carol replied back with a glare. "What you're describing is some sort of monster that just doesn't exist! You need to get your head out of your ass and do your job! People are beginning to ask questions, Liz. They want to know why four people died and they want to know who did it. I need something to tell this town, and I need it now."

"I told you to blame it on that gang!" Liz replied returning the Mayor's glare.

Carol rolled her eyes, "I'm not going to blame it on a bunch of newcomers! I want something people will believe."

"Those newcomers are monsters and we need to figure out a way to get them out of town!" Liz replied heatedly. Both women turned their heads as there was a loud knock on the door.

Carol ran her hands down her dress straightening it out as she stood to answer the door. She was taken aback when she saw who was on her doorstep. "Hello…"

Bella smiled, "Mrs. Lockwood, I need to speak to you and the Sheriff, it's a matter of great importance."

"I can't we have to lea…" Carol said only to be cut off by Bella.

"We both know you don't have to go anywhere." Bella said she let her fangs appear and smiled widely at the Sheriff. "I don't need an invitation to come in, so don't think you're safe inside your home. Invite my father in, so we can talk without this getting out of hand."

Carol gulped back and forced a smile on her face. "Of course, come in." She moved to the side and let them both in. She shut the door behind her and looked to her two guests.

"YOU!" Liz said, she took out her gun and pointed it at Bella. "Where's Jeremy?"

Bella stepped forward and let her dragon form take over, she saw the way the Sheriff's gun trembled in her hands as she looked at Bella. "Jeremy is at my home, were I'm hoping he comes back from that fatal bullet wound you gave him." Bella used her tail and knocked the gun out of the Sheriff's hands. She reached forward grabbing the Sheriff by the throat. She slammed her up against a wall and growled.

"I don't want to kill you, Sheriff, but I will if I have to." Bella said, she let the Sheriff go and went back to her original form. She looked back to the Mayor. "I came to make a peace offering of sorts. We both know it wasn't my kind that killed all those peoples at the festival, it was a vampire. My family likes this town, and we want to call it our home for a bit of time. We don't kill humans, so you have nothing to worry about with us."

Bella stepped closer to the Mayor. "What I'm offering is a treaty of sorts. My family, my species, won't cause any trouble, just as long as your people don't start anything with us. I heard that the Sheriff over here was trying to make my brother Trevor seem like a bad kid. It seems she was trying to blame all those murders on him and his imaginary gang, which is supposed to contain other family members of mine. I don't take to this kindly, I'm the leader and when someone in my family is being targeted, I have to retaliate."

Bella looked the Mayor directly in the eyes. "If your sheriff, or else anyone in this town gives one of my family members a rough time, I will have to act. I don't usually kill humans, but I will if they try hurting my family. I'm a very strong and powerful being, Mayor, you don't want to get on my bad side."

Bella stepped back and smiled charmingly at the Mayor. "What do you think, Mayor?"

Carol gulped and looked at Bella in the eyes something that was proving to be difficult as she wanted to advert her gaze from the girl. "I think we have a deal. I'll make sure no one of your kinds gets blamed for the murders or anything else to come."

Bella nodded with a smile. "Good, and if one of my own breaks a law or does something violent, you come to me first. I'll punish them accordingly, but if you or anyone else hurts anyone rest assured my vengeance will be bloody and I'll make a spectacle of it."

Carol nodded she felt her mouth go dry as she looked at the look on Bella's face. "Of course, I'll make sure no trouble comes your way. I'll deal with my people."

Bella smiled, "That's a pleasure to hear, and make sure the Sheriff over here is clear on the terms. She's caused enough trouble as it is, I'd hate to leave this town without a Sheriff if she does something again."

Carol nodded and glared at Liz, "I'll make it clear."

"My father and I will be leaving now, it was pleasure to be here today." Bella said smiling as she followed her father out. She paused at the door. "You have a lovely home, Mayor, I would hate for something to happen to it." Bella closed the door and walked beside her father back to the car.

"I'm a bit disappointed." Klaus said as they walked.

Bella turned to him curiously. "Over what?"

"I was hoping I got to snap the Sheriff's neck. I thought she might shot you, and that would give me the perfect reason to kill her, but I guess she was smarter than we both thought." Klaus said.

Bella smiled, "Let's go home. I don't like being away from him too long."

Klaus nodded, "He's going to be okay and in a few days he'll wake up and you'll go back to having hearts in your eyes every time you look at him."

Bella rolled her eyes, but thanked her father for coming with her. She looked back out the window as they drove back, the closer she got to the house and to Jeremy the less her chest and her heart hurt.

 **Day Four**

Bella rubbed her eyes as she had fallen asleep for more than a few minutes, and had just woken up. A part of her regretted waking up as her dreams contained thoughts of Jeremy. It had all been memories of the two of them that had taken place in her mind. It was more refreshing then the nightmares that had been plaguing her thoughts.

She looked to Jeremy and sighed as he looked exactly the same as when she had fallen asleep. She stood from the chair she had slept on and stretched her muscles sighing in relief as they became more comfortable with every move she made. She walked around the room stretching her legs. She had wanted to deal with Damon today, but she had been away from Jeremy yesterday and she didn't want to leave him today as well.

She sat on the bed and felt her eyes water as she looked at him. "I miss you." She whispered to him. She brought her knees to her chest and let the tears fall not being able to hold them in any longer. She wiped her eyes as there was a knock on the door.

"Come in, Dad." Bella said as she stood turning away from the door as she wiped her cheeks to clear all signs of crying.

Klaus sighed and closed the door behind him as he entered the room. He walked over to his daughter and put his arms around her. "Crying is not a weakness, Isabella. It's a sign of strength, only the strong have the courage to show their emotions."

Bella closed her eyes, "I don't know what will happen if he doesn't make it."

"He's going to make it, he's your mate after all." Klaus responded, "He has to be as stubborn as you are."

Bella smiled, "You're probably right."

"Of course I'm right, I'm always right." Klaus replied he smiled at his daughter. "Take a seat, tell me exactly how you met."

Bella raised her eyebrows in question. "Really?"

Klaus nodded, "You need to take your mind off of this, and thinking of him in a positive way will help you more than you think."

"Okay," Bella said, she smiled, "It was right after Trevor and I took the first boxes into the house."

 **Day Five**

Bella headed down the stairs, she had left Jeremy under the watchful eye of her father. She would've left him with Trevor, but she was going to need Trevor for what was about to come. She needed to clear her head and the only thing that got her mind off of Jeremy was Damon. She wanted more than anything to see him suffer, to see him pay for what he had done.

Bella looked to all the dragons that were gathered together in the living room. "I'm going to take care of a little problem. I need a few of you to come with me. The rest of you, I'm asking to stay here and be on your guard. I don't want anyone we don't know come into this house. Anyone who seems like a threat I don't want them to get anywhere near Jeremy."

Bella walked out of the house with Sean, Alexander and Trevor behind her. She let her wings spread wide and she looked to the three behind her. "I don't want any of you to lay a hand on Damon, not until I say so. If anyone gets in my way to him, I want you to stop them."

"Are we to kill them?" Alexander questioned curiously.

Bella shrugged, "Not if they're human. If they're otherwise I don't care." Bella flew up into the air and was followed by her dragons. She led everyone to the Salvatore house where she landed with the three of them behind her. She went back to her human form and walked up to the house. She didn't bother knocking instead she kicked the door in.

She tilted her head to the side as she instantly saw, Stefan, Caroline, and Elena standing in front of her. She smirked at them. "If you would be so kind as to tell me where Damon is."

Elena was first to move, she moved forward ready to hit Bella in anger. She winced in pain as Bella's hand wrapped around her wrist as it was close to her face. "I want Jeremy back!"

Bella let go of Elena's hand and pushed the girl back. "No." She replied simply. Bella was making her way towards the stairs she paused as she could hear Elena coming at her again. She knew her dragons had moved to hold back Stefan and Caroline. Bella grabbed Elena's wrist again and this time she forced the girl up against the wall. She turned to Trevor and nodded towards the stairs silently ordering him to go check on Damon. She didn't want him to have any chance of escaping. "Don't try to attack me, Elena. I'm not a vampire, I don't have weaknesses. You think you can hit me and get away with it? If you lay one hand on me I'll break your hand in retaliation. I can't kill you, because you mean something to Jeremy, but there are boundaries and if I were you I would make sure not cross them. I'm doing what I have to in order to save Jeremy."

Elena glared at Bella. "You pathetic, worthless piece of scum, you mean nothing to my brother. You're just another girl, whom he'll get over in a day. You'll never be good enough for Jeremy, not like Bonnie is."

Bella glared at the girl in front of her, "It seems your brother thinks differently." Bella looked around, "Who are you to judge me when you're currently playing around with two brothers? Is that what is making you so angry? The fact that one of your boy toys is going to die, at the hands of one of my boys no less."

Elena grew angry, she couldn't really hit Bella since her hands were being held back, so she did the only thing she could think of. She spit on Bella's face and smirked when Bella released her. Elena backed up and gulped as she saw the look on Bella's eyes.

Bella growled out loudly and took on her dragon form, she bared her teeth at Elena. "That was very stupid." Bella stepped closer and forced Elena up against the wall. "For such disrespect I should take your head."

Elena trembled strongly as the look on Bella's face let her know she had done the wrong thing and glancing over at Stefan and Caroline who were being held by their throats to the wall she knew no one would be coming to her rescue this time. "I'm-sor"She began but flinched back when Bella growled.

"DID I SAY YOU COULD TALK?" Bella growled, she reached down and used Elena's shirt to clean her face. She laughed as she saw Elena's face. "I've warned you already, Elena. I can't kill you, but I will let someone else die in your place. I'll let that guilt live in your head for the rest of your life. I came here to save Damon from the last slowly painful days of his life, but now I don't think I will. I think I'm going to let him rot in his room, and it'll be all because of you. You let him die, Elena. He could've been rescued, but now he has to suffer because you did something stupid. I hope you can live with the guilt of having let Damon die."

Bella stepped back as she saw the look on Elena's face, she watched as the girl slide down the wall in shock as everything settled inside her mind. Bella turned to Trevor who came down the stairs, "How is Damon?" She questioned loud enough that Elena would be able to hear.

"He was definitely bitten by one of us. He shouldn't last more than a few more days. His body is beginning to slowly give up on him." Trevor replied, he moved quickly and stood behind Bella.

Bella smiled at Elena. "What a shame, isn't it Elena?" She turned to Sean and Alexander. "Snap their necks and let's go. I think our work here is done."

Bella smiled as her dragons stood behind her she looked one last time to Elena. "I told you before, Elena. Show me some respect, you have no idea what I'm capable of. Be grateful that you're related to Jeremy, if it were otherwise I would've had your head by now."

With her final words Bella led her boys out of the house and into the air. This hadn't been what she came for, but it seemed things had to change under the circumstances.

 **Day Six**

Bella sighed as she looked at Jeremy's body, it was still so lifeless. She turned to the corner of the room where her father stood. "He should be waking up by now." She stated as she did her best to hold back the tears that threatened to fall.

Klaus nodded, "I know, but you should always have faith. He might just be slow."

Bella nodded her head, she brushed her fingers through his hair. "I don't know what I'd do if he doesn't make it. I need him to make it, dad. I can't live without him."

Klaus nodded, he was about to speak when he heard a lot of screaming going on outside.

Bella growled in annoyance. She stepped closer to her window to see what was happening outside. She growled louder as she saw the Sheriff accompanied by Bonnie, Caroline, and Stefan. Bella looked to her father for a moment before letting out a loud growl that rumbled through the entire house. She opened the window in her room and jumped out. She landed standing in front of her dragons and face the trespassers. She watched as all her dragons stopped arguing with the trespassers the moment her feet hit the ground. They came together behind her staring down the intruders.

"What are you doing at my home?" Bella questioned as she stared down the four in front of her.

"We're here to bring Jeremy home." Liz replied her hand resting on her gun. "We'll use force if we have to."

Bella laughed, "Is this what you brought as backup? The weakest vampires in town, and an amateur witch? Is this the army that is supposed to fight on your side?" Bella stepped closer to the Sheriff, "I'm not in the best of moods right now. I suggest you tread very carefully here, it might be best for you to get back in your car and get the hell off my property."

Liz pulled out her gun and aimed it at Bella. "I'm going to count to three, if you don't bring Jeremy's body out I'll be forced to take action."

Bella's eyes hardened, "I thought I made it clear when I spoke to the Mayor. Are you sure this is the path you want to take Sheriff? I meant what I said, if someone gets hurt I'll be forced to retaliate."

Liz cocked her gun and aimed straight for Bella's heart. "I came for justice."

Bella scoffed, "Justice? I wasn't the one who shot Jeremy in the heart! I WASN'T THE ONE WHO KILLED HIM!" Bella looked to the three behind Liz and realization hit her. "You didn't tell them the truth did you? You didn't tell them that YOU were the one to kill Jeremy. YOU were the reason I had to take Jeremy and run."

"SHUT UP!" Liz yelled as her hand trembled as she held onto the gun.

"Tell them how your first instinct when you saw Damon was to shot him. Tell them how you didn't think first before pressing the trigger. TELL THEM THAT YOU SHOT JEREMY, ALL BECAUSE YOU WANTED TO GET YOUR ANGER TOWARDS DAMON OUT!" Bella stepped forward standing a few feet away from the Sherriff. "Tell them the truth, Sheriff!"

Liz pressed the trigger and shot Bella everyone gasped out as Bella's wings appeared blocking the bullet from hitting her. Bella removed the bullet that had lodged itself in her wings. She took it and with all the force she had she threw it back at the Sheriff. She watched as it pierced the Sheriff's hand knocking the gun out of her hand and creating a hole where it entered and exited. Without having to say a word Bella watched as some of her dragons stepped forward and grabbed Stefan, Caroline and Bonnie holding them back as she made her way towards the Sheriff who had fallen down to the ground in agony.

Bella kneeled down and forced the Sheriff to look at her. "I told you not to get involved with me. Frankly, I want nothing more than to take your head and rip it off your neck and use it as a sign of what I'm capable of, but I'm not in the mood for revenge today. Well, that's a lie. I am in a mood for revenge, just not for killing." Bella reached down and broke the Sheriff's hand with one swift movement. Bella waited until the Sheriff was done screaming in pain to speak again.

"I really hate to do this Sheriff, but you made me do it." Bella said she broke the Sheriff's leg. "I told you not to come into my business. I'm trying to fix what you messed up, I'm trying to bring him back, but you don't seem to understand that. I don't understand what else I can do to make it clear. I guess I'll just have to say this, the next time any of you come trespassing into my property without permission, I'll have to kill you. Well, not you, you're human and that would be cruel, but your daughter, her friends all of them will be gone and it'll be your fault. I really hope you'll listen this time as this is the last warning I'm giving any of you. Next time someone is going to die, and I promise it'll be painful."

Bella stood back up and carried the Sheriff to the car, she placed her in the backseat being sure to 'accidently' twist her broken hand. Bella looked to the other three that remained. "I'll give you 15 seconds to get in this car and get the hell off my property. I'm done playing around, yesterday should've been enough for you all to understand. Come near my family again, and I'll kill you in the blink of an eye. Or, I'll just let one of them bite you, than you'll suffer the same fate as Damon." Bella looked to Bonnie and glared heavily at the girl. "I ever see your face again on my property no amount of magic will be able to help you. Listen to the spirits, because I'm sure they'll warn you to stay away from me and my family."

Bella gestured for her dragons to let them go and watched as the three hurried in the car. She didn't relax her stance until they were out of sight. She turned to her dragons and gave a small smile. "Well, at least there wasn't any bloodshed."

"What about Liz, you sent a bullet at her." Trevor replied as with a smirk. "There was bloodshed there."

Bella smiled, "That's right, I shot the Sheriff."

"But you didn't shoot the deputy." A voice said from behind everyone else.

Bella froze and watched as her dragons all stepped out of the way to reveal Jeremy standing there behind them. "Jeremy?" Bella questioned quietly.

Jeremy nodded, he opened his arms and smiled. "Don't I get a hug, Isa?"

Bella smiled, she moved quickly and jumped into his arms. "You're alive." She said as she buried her head in his neck taking in his scent. She felt the tears escape her eyes as she held onto him tightly. "I missed you." She whispered into his ear.

"I know." Jeremy replied, "I could hear you. I missed you too, Isa." Jeremy closed his eyes in relief as the last six days had been torture for him. He could hear her, but there was nothing he could do to ease her pain and that was the worst thing of all.

Neither of the pair noticed the dragons leave heading to Klaus's home in an attempt to give the two space.

"I love you, Isa." Jeremy said as he kissed the side of her head. "I was worried you wouldn't turn me, I'm glad you did it."

Bella hugged him tighter. "I couldn't let you go." She whispered she felt her tears fall on his shirt. "I love you too much to live without you."

Jeremy held her tighter he closed his eyes again as he held her. It was finally settling in that he was now just like her, and that from this moment on his eternity was going to be spent with her. This being a fact that would scare most, but to him it was the most exciting thing he could imagine. Nothing sounded better than being with her for the rest of forever.


	9. Aftermath

Author's Note

Hey, well… this is later than anticipated, but at least it's going up now. Anyway, if you want to go ahead and read the Epilogue, it's up at my sight. I'll be posting it here early tomorrow morning so it shouldn't be too long of a wait.

Tell me what you think, and I hope you enjoy!

-Page Break-

Bella smiled as she led Jeremy through the woods. "Animals usually don't put up much of a fight when hunting, but some are stubborn and will try to fight back. Try not to really injure them, if they get seriously injured the meat doesn't taste good and you end up losing blood."

Jeremy nodded he looked to Bella and smiled. "So, am I going to be like you or the other guys?"

Bella turned to him with a questioning look. "What are you talking about?"

"The whole wing color thing, will I have one single color like everyone else or will I have multiple colors like you?" Jeremy questioned curiously.

"You're my equal Jeremy," Bella responded simply as she continued to lead Jeremy through the woods. "You'll be as strong as me, but there are limitations to what you'll be able to do. You can't have all the powers of being Alpha, because you're not Alpha."

Jeremy smiled he put his arms around Bella pressing her back against his chest. "It's a good thing I'm not Alpha, I don't think I can do what you do. You're kind of a badass, Isa."

Bella smiled at his compliment. "Are you ready?"

Jeremy sighed and shrugged. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"It won't hurt," Bella said brushing the hair out of his face. At the look he gave her she continued. "Okay, it might hurt for a moment, but after that it'll be painless. The first time is hard for anyone, Jeremy. I remember when I did it I couldn't stay standing on my own two feet. It'll pass, though. The pain doesn't last long."

Jeremy smiled as he used his hand to cup Bella's cheek. "It's worth it." He stated as he leaned down and quickly kissed Bella. He stepped away from her and took in a deep breath as he got ready to take on his first transformation. "Just focus, right?"

Bella nodded, "Close your eyes, and just focus on changing. Let your body relax while it's taking on its new form. You'll feel some stretching when your wings began to grow, but it'll be easier if you focus on something else. Don't let your mind focus on the pain, it only makes it worst. You have to focus on something else, anything that makes you happy." She stated as she had to let him do this on his own. After spending most of the day in her room talking and just being together, Bella had finally decided they couldn't push his transformation any further. He would get hungry soon, and she had to teach him how to hunt, but he had to take on his transformation first.

Bella watched as Jeremy did as she told him, she could see his body relaxing as he focused on transforming. She hands twitched as she wanted to take the pain away from him as he began to take on his form. She had to fight to keep herself from moving to comfort him as his wings began to rip through his back ripping his skin apart as they started to appear. "Think of something positive, Jeremy." She shouted as she wanted to lessen his pain in some way.

Bella stood in awe as Jeremy's wings appeared, they weren't a single color and that didn't surprise her at all. She smiled as his horns appeared, and his tail as well. She stepped forward just as his fangs appeared, she ran her hand down his cheek and looked into his eyes. "It won't be as bad the second time." She assured as she felt in awe at his dragon form.

Jeremy smirked, "I really hope not, it would suck to feel that every time I took this form." He ran his tongue over his teeth and winced as his teeth were sharper than he thought and they ended up slicing his tongue.

Bella smiled, "I did the same thing when I first changed." She said as she watched as his tongue instantly healed itself.

"So, how do I do the whole hunting thing?" Jeremy questioned with a smirk. "Do I just grab a bird and start biting?"

Bella laughed at Jeremy's attempt at a joke. "No, just do what I did when you went with me to hunt."

"Will I be as messy as you?" Jeremy questioned as he looked around letting his hearing and smell try to find his prey. "Because I didn't bring a spare set of clothes."

Bella smirked, "Everyone is messy on their first hunt, no exceptions." She leaned up and kissed him lightly. "Which is why I brought you some spare clothes."

"Glad you thought ahead." Jeremy replied with a smile.

-Page Break-

Jeremy looked to Trevor as they were outside watching the others play a game of capture the flag, which by the looks of it was becoming a very intense game. "What happened?" Jeremy questioned, he had tried asking Bella, but she hadn't told him any details over what had happened with Elena.

"What are you asking exactly?" Trevor questioned with a smirk. "You have to be clearer about some things."

"Alright, what did Elena do to Bella?" Jeremy questioned more directly. "Bella talked about it briefly when I was transitioning. When I asked about it she didn't give many details. All she said was that she had gone to deal with Damon and Elena stepped in. I have to at some point face my sister again, but I want to know what she did."

Trevor looked around and sighed. "Elena she umm… how do I put this? Elena knew she couldn't hit Bella, so she did the only thing she could. Elena spit in Bella's face."

Jeremy reared back, "You're kidding right?"

Trevor shook his head, "I was upstairs, but even I heard when it happened. Bella was beyond angry when it happened. If Elena wasn't your sister, Bella would've killed her on the spot no question about it. Jeremy, you have to understand that Elena _humiliated_ Bella. I cringed when I heard Bella's growl when it happened. I don't doubt that every one of us cringed as we heard her growl. Bella was already on edge because of you and this didn't make matters any better. Bella was going to suck the venom of our bite out of Damon, that's why we went to the Salvatore house. She was going to bite him and leave it up to you to decide whether he lived or not. But, Bella saw how much Elena loved Damon, so she used that to get back to Elena. Bella loves you, and because of this she won't physically hurt Elena, but that didn't mean Bella wasn't going to get back at her."

"That's enough, Trevor." Bella said joining them, she looked at Trevor and shook her head. "I'll tell him the rest.

"Well, I'm going to go join the game." Trevor said standing up and joining the groups. He smiled at Bella before he disappeared knowing she wasn't angry at him at all.

Bella sat down next to Jeremy. She smiled as his arm went around her shoulders almost instinctively. "You can still choose, if you want Damon to live, he'll live."

Jeremy shook his head, "Did she really do that?" Jeremy questioned.

Bella nodded, "She was going to hit me, so I blocked her fist before it could do anything. I had her up against the wall, because she threatened me and that's not something I can let pass. I'm alpha and any sort of threat to me isn't taken lightly, I had to do something. Elena started throwing insults, it seems it's something your sister is best at doing. When you have an entire species to look after, you tend to catch things others don't see. The reason your sister was being so hostile that day was because of Damon. She was angry that he was going to die. Your sister is in love with Damon, and to see him on his deathbed and not be able to do anything to stop it, it was putting her on edge. I brought this up to her, I asked her if the reason she was so angry was because one of her boy toy was going to die at the hands of one of my boys. That's when your sister spit in my face."

"I can't believe she did that." Jeremy said in disbelief. "Is that why you didn't rescue Damon?"

Bella nodded, "I let the guilt have her. I told her the truth. I had gone there to rescue Damon, and she had screwed all chances of that happening. I told her she would have to forever live with the guilt of knowing she was the reason Damon never survived. She would have to live knowing that the person she loved was going to die and it would be all her fault."

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" Jeremy questioned, "Why did you keep this from me?"

Bella sighed, "Because as much as I hate Elena, she's still your sister. I feared that when you knew the truth you would believe what she had been saying all along and call me a monster."

Jeremy shook his head, "I'll tell you for the rest of forever if I have to until you believe me, I love you, Isa. No matter what anyone says or what you do I will always love you, and I will always take your side." He leaned down and kissed her head, he didn't need to be told to know exactly where these insecurities were coming from. "I'm not Edward." He whispered into her ear. "I won't leave you. Nothing on this Earth could ever take me away from your side."

Bella closed her eyes and leaned closer to Jeremy. She inhaled his scent and let it wash over her, "I love you." She replied as she moved closer into his side. "You should stay here." She whispered as minutes passed.

Jeremy looked down at her curiously, "What?"

"I know this is going to sound like a line out of a cult movie, but you're one of us now." Bella said as she moved her head to look up at Jeremy. "You could stay here if you want, I mean this place it's meant for dragons. We're a family Jeremy and if you want to stay here, you're welcome to."

Jeremy smiled, he leaned down and kissed Bella. He held her closer deepening the kiss between them. He smiled as he heard a cough from behind them, he pulled away from Bella and looked to Klaus. He looked back to Bella smiled. "I'm going to join the game." He stated with a smile. "Hey, Klaus."

Klaus nodded and watched the boy leave he took a seat beside Bella who was giving him a heated look. "What is that look for?"

Bella sighed and shook her head. "Come on, papa Nikki, you have to be civil to Jeremy."

Klaus smirked, "I assumed I already was being civil."

Bella rolled her eyes, "You're going to have to get used to him at some point, dad. I mean we mated he's not going anywhere."

Klaus smirked, "I know, I'm well aware of the fact that the boy isn't ever going to leave your side. You and I both know I hold nothing against the boy."

"Jeremy, dad, call him Jeremy." Bella said with a shake of her head. "Just, don't do that whole scary father thing, it's a little too late for that."

Klaus smirked, "It'll never be too late."

Bella smiled, "He makes me feel safe." Bella whispered to her dad. "I have these insecurities that at times I feel like they take over my thoughts and I fear he's going to leave me. With him it's like he can feel it, and he knows the perfect words to say to make me feel better. Sometimes he doesn't need to say anything and a kiss will ease all my worries away. I never felt like this before, and it feels good to know how much he cares about me." Bella looked to Klaus and smiled.

"I'm happy for you, Isabella." Klaus replied he kissed his daughter's head.

Bella smiled and leaned against her dad. "Are you still planning on waking up your siblings?"

Klaus nodded, "I've decided I have some things to do first, but sometime in the future I will release them."

"I'll be by your side through it all." Bella assured as she rested her head on his shoulder and watched the game that was taking place.

-Page Break-

Jeremy put his hands in his pockets as he stood in front of his home, or as he now thought of it his old home. He had borrowed Bella's SUV to come get a few of his things as her bike probably wouldn't hold any of his things. He had refused her offer to help, he needed to do this on his own. More importantly, he needed to talk to his sister on his own. A burning anger inside of him rose every time he thought of her now. What she had done to Bella was something he just couldn't bring himself to forgive. He had warned her, if it were between his sister and Bella, he wouldn't think twice before choosing Bella.

Walking up to the house Jeremy could now hear her inside talking to Stefan and Caroline. It seemed he had arrived in the middle of a meeting in which they were all wondering what to do with Damon. Who he picked up was spending his last moments wasting away in his room.

Jeremy carefully walked up the front steps being sure to not make a single sound as he did so. No longer being human he was better sneaking around and that was something he was grateful for. He snuck into the house and walked to the leaving room. He leaned against the opening of the living room and watched the three that were arguing.

"She's a monster! We're not going to go beg her to save Damon!" Elena yelled in frustration at the suggestion Caroline had given.

Jeremy growled catching all their attention. "Don't ever call Bella a monster again!" He said through gritted teeth.

"Jeremy!" Elena said she walked up to him and went to hug him only to have Jeremy stop her. "What's wrong, Jeremy? Is there a problem? Did that worthless bitc…" Elena's eyes widened as Jeremy clamped a hand over her mouth before she could finish what she was saying.

"I wouldn't finish that sentence." Jeremy warned as he released his sister. He glared at her, "The only problem I have is you. I thought you were my sister, Elena. I thought you cared about me!"

"I DO!" Elena argued as she put her hands on her hips and glared at her brother. "You never used to doubt me until _she_ came along."

Jeremy watched with curiosity as Elena turned around and sent Stefan a look. In seconds Jeremy saw Stefan run towards him. Instantly Jeremy moved to the side and grabbed Stefan by the back of his neck and smashed his head into the wall causing a large dent to appear. Twisting his wrists Jeremy snapped Stefan's neck. Jeremy released Stefan and looked at his sister as what she had been trying to do was clear. "You were going to compel me weren't you? I'm betting you had this all planned out. You were going to wait until I came home and once I was home Stefan would grab me and compel me. Am I right?"

"Jeremy I…" Elena began but froze as Caroline stepped in.

"Yes." Caroline admitted, she ignored Elena's glare and continued. "We knew you would at some point have to come back by yourself. Elena had asked Stefan to compel you if you wouldn't agree to stay away from Bella or her family. The plan was Stefan would compel you to stay away from Bella, he would compel you to hate her, Elena knew if you hated Bella, it would crush her. She was hoping it would cause Bella to leave town and never look back."

Jeremy looked to his sister in a new light as he knew she wasn't the person he thought she was, and things just started falling into place in his mind as he saw his sister in a different light now. "What happened to you, Elena?" Jeremy said as he took a step back from her not wanting to be close to her. "When did you become so... manipulative?"

"Jeremy, please." Elena said as she made a move to step closer to Jeremy, "Whatever she did to you, we can find a way to change you back. I can help you. We can figure out a way to fix you."

Jeremy shook his head. "Do you hear yourself?" He questioned anger lacing his voice. "I don't need to be _fixed_ , Elena. I'm perfectly fine the way I am. I had hoped you would understand that but it's clear you're not going to accept me."

Jeremy sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I told you, if it came time to choose between you and Bella. I would choose Bella. That's what I'm going to do now. I don't think I can be around you anymore, Elena. You've become someone who doesn't understand the meaning of family anymore. All that ever matters to you anymore is Stefan and Damon. You can say what you wish, but I know the truth. You weren't angry with Bella because she took me back to her home. You were angry because Damon was hurt and it was one of Bella's boys that did it."

"I know you weren't scared for me or worried if I would survive or not. I guess I just have to come to terms with that fact that maybe you and I aren't family anymore." Jeremy said as he looked at Elena. "I'm going to get my things, and then I'm leaving. I can't stay in a house with someone who is going to keep criticizing everything I do. I can't stay here knowing what you did to Bella. Who does that sort of thing, Elena? I love Bella, and I'm going to be with her for as long as I live. There is nothing you or anyone else can do to change that. If you do anything to Bella again, I won't stop her from killing you."

"Jeremy!" Elena said grabbing a hold of his arm. "You can't leave!"

Jeremy ripped his arm out of her hold and glared at her. "I can do whatever I want, and what I want is to be with my Isa." He turned and climbed up the stairs, he was surprised when she didn't follow, but could hear Caroline holding her back. He entered his room and ignored Damon as the vampire looked seconds away from death. A part of him felt guilty and wanted to go quickly and ask Bella to save him, but a larger part of him knew if Damon were saved it would only mean more trouble for Bella.

Jeremy grabbed a suitcase from his closet, the one he used to use when they went on vacation. He put away all his clothes everything he owned fitting inside with ease. He took his drawing pads, his pencils, computer and a picture of his parents and put it all away in his backpack. Once he was done he looked around his room and took in a deep breath.

It no longer felt like it was his room. As he looked around he knew this wasn't were he belonged, he belonged alongside his Isa. He put on his backpack and grabbed the handle of the suitcase ready to say goodbye to this chapter of his life knowing the life that lay ahead of him was the one he wanted. He looked to Damon and decided to say some parting words. "I'd say I'm sorry to see you like this, but I'm not sure I'm really sorry. You're kind of an asshole, dude. Hope the other side is good to you or whatever."

Jeremy left the room he made it down the stairs in a slow pace as he looked at the frames that decorated the walls. The memory of his parents would always live on with him, he didn't need all the pictures to remember them. He reached the last step to see Stefan now standing beside Elena, Caroline was gone. "You can't stop me, Elena."

A smirk came upon Elena's face. "I can." Elena said with full assurance. "Ric is your guardian, you're under age and can't leave. If you take one step outside we can report you a runaway or I can wait until you're at Bella's home and we can report a kidnapping. You legally have to stay here."

Jeremy laughed lightly, "You really think that's going to work?" He shook his head at how desperate Elena had become. "Not one person is going to listen to you. If you make a call, the Mayor will have the claim disappear. Not one person in the police department will go after Bella, they no better than to do that. It's really pathetic how low you're sinking, Elena."

"Jeremy, I need you. Please, don't go. I'm your sister, I'm the last family you have left." Elena said in a pleading voice.

"I know you don't want me to stay." Jeremy stated as he stared at Elena. "The only reason you're acting like this is because you know that's how everyone expects you to act. I know you better than you think Elena. You don't care about me, if you did you'd be glad that I found someone like Bella. If you cared for me like you pretend to you wouldn't think badly towards Bella. If everyone knew the real way you think, like I do, they would be disgusted by you. The only person you have ever cared about is yourself. I doubt you even love Stefan, I bet the only reason you were ever with Stefan was because Caroline liked him."

Jeremy glared at his sister, "You don't really care what I do, Elena. I know this already, you never cared about me. You only acted like you did because if Stefan really knew how similar you are to Katherine he'd leave you. Let's just make this easier on the both of us and act like the other never existed." He headed towards the door but paused he turned around and looked to Stefan. "I really hate you, you're a complete asshole who follows Elena around like a lost puppy. You even follow her every command like a house trained dog, but I think it's time you realize that she's only using you. I'm willingly to bet everything that the only reason she's kept you around so long is because she's in love with Damon. I think he's the only person she's every really cared about aside from herself, but he's as selfish as she is so I guess it makes sense."

Jeremy exited the house slamming the door behind him. He stuck his suitcase in the back with his backpack. He got into the driver's seat and began to drive back to his new home. Back to his Isa.

-Page Break-

Jeremy sat beside Klaus on the bleachers outside as he witnessed Bella graduating. The other dragons were scatted about everywhere. Some were teachers or other staff members and had to sit with the students as part of the ceremony and others like Trevor were sitting at the very front waiting for the moment they called Bella's name so they could cheer their heads off. He had decided to sit at the top of the bleachers where no one really sat, to his surprise Klaus had taken the seat next to him.

"How many times have you watched her do this?" Jeremy questioned curiously as he looked over to the original.

"This will be the first, actually." Klaus replied, "Isabella had never stayed in a town for this long. She makes a habit of leaving directly after she's turned a dragon."

Jeremy smiled, "I guess I kind of changed things for her, but she does seem to like this town."

"You've changed a lot of things." Klaus replied, "She smiles more with you."

"Is this your awkward way of telling me I'm good for her?" Jeremy questioned doing his best to hide his smirk.

Klaus shook his head, "I'm stating that you're better than the other."

Jeremy smirked and nodded his head. "What are the odds that we might run into him?"

"Very high, you have an eternity of wandering the Earth after all." Klaus replied simply.

"Do you want to kill him too?" Jeremy questioned curiously, "Or is that just something I want to do?"

"I'm very tempted to kill him, but Isabella would be angry if I did so. I believe you might be able to get away with it, though." Klaus replied with a smirk.

Jeremy chuckled, "I don't think she'd mind if I did kill him one day."

"The planet would be a better place without him." Klaus added he leaned back and watched the ceremony. He turned his head as Elena's name was called and Jeremy didn't react. "You don't see her as family anymore, do you?"

Jeremy shook his head, "If she were family she wouldn't be so horrible." He replied. "I made it clear to her, I would always choose Bella over her. She didn't listen, and I'm better off without her. Elena never knew what the meaning of family was. It takes a lot more than sharing the same blood to be family. Besides, she really was only my cousin."

"I was surprised to see that Stefan had left her after Damon's death." Klaus replied as he watched the doppelganger. "All she has left is the witch, and who knows how long that friendship will last."

Jeremy chuckled, "It can last forever. Elena has always been able to control Bonnie. Bonnie can't stand up to Elena, she's too scared and nothing will ever change that between them. The only reason Caroline was able to get away was because she left with Stefan. If she had stayed I have no doubt that Elena would find some way to manipulate her into staying her friend."

Klaus was about to reply, but Bella's name was called and there was a loud roar of applause and cheers. He looked over to see Jeremy smiling widely and as he followed the boy's line of sight he could see Bella and Jeremy locked eyes and were having some sort of silent conversation with each other. As Bella took her seat and her back turned Klaus noticed Jeremy still kept his eyes on her. "Thank you." Klaus said simply and quietly.

Jeremy turned to him with a questioning look on his face. "Did I hear you say, thank you?"

Klaus turned his head back towards the crowd. "I won't repeat myself."

"Can I at least ask what you're thanking me for? Because I doubt it was because I handed you some ear plugs when you sat down." Jeremy responded with a smirk.

"The ear plugs were useful against all the screaming and these bloody awful speakers, but that wasn't what I was referring to." Klaus responded, "You make her happy." He replied simply.

"That's not something I want to be thanked over. Making her happy is something I do because I love to see her happy and enjoying life. If you thank me for it, it's taking away from it all. It's as if you were stating that I only try to make her happy because I want recognition for it." Jeremy stated as he too turned back to the crowd. "Now, thanking me for the ear plugs, I'll accept that. I _want_ recognition for thinking ahead and being smart about things."


	10. Epilogue

Author's Note

Bittersweet endings… I love story so very much. For all of you who are going to wonder, no Klaus has not awakened his siblings yet, he's procrastinating on that. Anyway, I may or may not add a few outtakes to this story later on in the future.

Tell me what you think, and I hope you enjoy!

-Page Break-

Jeremy put his arm around Bella's waist as they entered the high school campus. The place was crawling with teenagers, all split into their own little groups of friends. "You know, we really don't have to go to school anymore. Did you forget we already graduated?"

Bella smiled up at him. "Of course we I didn't forget, and I know very well we don't need to come back, but…" She said she gestured to the girl who was sitting beside her twin brother both of them seemingly invisible to the people around them. Both were in ripped clothing and though the clothes was baggy it was easy to tell that they were practically starving. "We're here for them."

Jeremy looked down at Bella and kissed her head. "It's weird to think I'm actually 56." He muttered as he looked around the high school. "How I managed to stay so roguishly handsome throughout the decades will remain a mystery to me."

Bella smirked, "And you stayed so humble too." Bella turned her head and looked back towards the twins. When she saw them a few days before she knew they belonged with her family. "I feel like they're already family, it's like they're meant to be dragons." She whispered as she kept her eyes on them watching as they talked quietly with one another. "I need to get to know them better before I reveal what we are to them and offer to turn them. Going to school with them seems like the best way to become close to them."

Jeremy nodded, he looked around the campus getting to know every part of it that he could see. He didn't think they were going to stay in this town when they first passed through, but Bella insisted she had a feeling about the town and they stayed. As he assumed, her feeling led them to people she wnatd to change. He looked around looking for Trevor who was just with them a moment ago. "Where's Trev?"

Bella shrugged, "The front office, maybe. Speaking of, we should be heading there was well before the bell rings. We have to get those schedules and at least make it look like we care about school."

Jeremy groaned, he paused as a smile formed his way onto his face. "Let's go."

Bella looked to Jeremy curiously, "What are you planning?"

"Nothing." Jeremy replied, he leaned down and kissed Bella. "I just want to be the best student I can possibly be."

Bella rolled her eyes, "You'd think after so many years you'd know how to lie better."

Jeremy smirked, he kept his arm around Bella as they walked through the halls of the very crowded school. They had landed themselves in New York and he was very aware of how troublesome and packed these schools could be. A few new student arriving wouldn't really be noticed by anyone so that left him with the advantage of not really having to try to blend in. Allowing him to do some mischievous things while he was there.

Jeremy stiffened as they walked passed a group of boys, he watched as they all unsubtly stared at Bella's ass. He grew tense as his hearing caught what they were saying about his mate and it only made him want to walk over there and hit every single one of them.

"They're human." Bella whispered catching the way Jeremy tensed.

Jeremy looked to her and sighed, "But they're assholes."

Bella laughed lightly, "And you're possessive."

"It's not something I can help, its instinct." He leaned down and kissed her temple. "Besides, you do it too."

Bella smirked, "I'm more subtle about it."

Jeremy scoffed, "If that's what you wish to believe, Isa." He kissed her cheek as they entered the office. "I love you."

Bella smiled teasingly. "I feel like this is something you say right before you're about to cause some sort of trouble."

"No, I'm saying it because I love you, and I want you to know it." Jeremy said, he leaned down and kissed Bella. He pulled her closer to him and pushed her against a wall as the kiss between them became more heated. He knew this was more than just him publically claiming her, she needed it too. In Mystic Falls everyone knew that they were together, that they belonged to each other. But as they attended new schools and lived in new towns, both their possessive sides began to come out.

Jeremy pulled back once they heard a throat clearing behind him. He looked down at Bella and smirked, "The best reason to get in trouble on our first day, don't you think?"

Bella gave a small smile, her eyes drifting to the adult behind Jeremy. "The best." She agreed with a smirk. Jeremy moved to stand at her side his arm wrapped around her waist as he turned to face who he could only assume to be the principal of the school.

-Page Break-

Trevor took a seat with Bella and the twins, David and Patty, at the lunch table. He smiled at the twins it was still their first week, but as always it didn't take long for the twins to become comfortable with around the three of them.

Bella looked around knowing Jeremy usually entered the cafeteria with Trevor. She was curious as to why today was different. "Where's Jeremy?"

Trevor smirked, "He got sidetracked." He replied with a shrug. "He'll be here any minute."

Bella was about to question Trevor further when she saw all the lights go out. Her super sight adjusting to the dark as she scanned the cafeteria. She could hear students panicking and teachers trying to scramble around to find out what happened. She turned her head and saw a blurring figure and knew it had to be Jeremy. She didn't focus on what he was doing, instead she turned to the twins as she could hear their heart race increasing. "It's nothing bad, just a silly prank."

Bella felt an arm go around her shoulders just as the lights came back on. She smiled as she saw Jeremy now sitting in beside her. "I'm curious." She stated as she looked around trying to catch what he had been doing.

Jeremy gently moved her head to look at a table of jocks, jocks who had been extremely rude not just to Bella, but the twins as well. "You said I couldn't hit them, but…" He trailed off with a smirk as buckets and buckets of ice water fell onto the table soaking each one of the teens. He leaned back with a pleased smile as everything had worked with great ease. He turned his head as both the twins were laughing covering their mouths from being too loud. He watched with a smirk as a lot of the kids were laughing at what had occurred. Each jock quickly running out of the cafeteria a line of teachers following after them to try and figure out what had happened with them.

"You really did that?" David whispered as he leaned closer to Jeremy he didn't want to risk getting him caught so he tried to be as quiet as possible.

Jeremy smirked, "In the matter of seconds."

"That's really cool." David said in awe.

"Thank you." Patty whispered, "For standing up for us, before and now."

Bella smiled, "It's what we do for family." She responded with ease.

"They deserved it, but I have to admit, getting all that ice was incredibly simple. I expected more of a hassle with the Cafeteria staff." Trevor said, he smirked at the twins, but more specifically Patty. "It was fun to do though."

Jeremy nodded his head, he looked to Patty and smile. "It was all Trevor's idea."

"Really?" Patty questioned quietly as she was seated beside Trevor. "How'd you come up with it?"

David carried on with a conversation with Jeremy and Bella. Letting them tell them all about what came with being a dragon. Bella noticed the more Jeremy spoke about the more she saw David lighten up. She put her arm around Jeremy as she saw how easily he became a sort of role model to someone. She leaned against him ignoring the teachers screaming demanding to know who had done this. He normally wouldn't do this sort of thing he was always very calm, but at times when he considered someone his friend or his family he protected them. It was something Bella had seen after she had turned him. She doubted he saw the change in himself, but once he became more settled in his skin and realized how much strength he truly held he became a bit more serious.

She was always proud to call him her mate. He kept her grounded, reminded her that every decision had a consequence and she always had to think things through. When she asked for help on a situation he'd answer and give her his opinion on the matter and always understood her final decision. With him, she felt stronger, happier, and by far more confident in being Alpha. She leaned up and kissed his cheek, "You're going to get caught." She whispered into his ear.

Jeremy chuckled, "No I'm not. As far as everyone is concerned I've been sitting here the whole time. And how could I possibly set up all those buckets of iced in such a short amount of time. This was clearly the work of a group of people."

Bella smiled, "You're walking on thin ice."

"Well, it's a good think I know how to swim then." Jeremy replied he moved and kissed Bella. His hands brought her in closer as he deepened the kiss between them. There really was no such thing as a simple kiss between them anymore. When their lips met it was only ever them, no one else mattered.

A cough had them separating their lips. Bella smiled as once again they were reprimanded by the school principal. She held back her laughter as Jeremy interrupted him in the middle of the lecture. "Shouldn't you be looking for whomever filled those buckets with ice? That would seem like something better to do than to lecture me about kissing my girlfriend."

"Public displays of affection are not allowed." The principal said as he sent Jeremy a heated glare.

"I can't really be sure of that." Jeremy he smirked at the principal and gestured to the corner of cafeteria. "There's a couple back there that are doing a whole lot more than kissing. I think you should deal with them instead of me. I was merely kissing my girlfriend, they're taking PDA to an entirely different level."

The principal's eyes shifted to where Jeremy had gestured to and his ears turned red in anger. He turned to Jeremy with a glare. "This isn't over with."

"Of course it isn't." Jeremy said as he watched the principal turn away.

"How do you always manage to get in trouble so easily?" Bella questioned with a smirk. "You can never seem to just be."

Jeremy smirked, "He's been an asshole since we got here. He has it out for me. I get in trouble for everything he can possible blame on me. I got a week's detention for kissing you on Monday and all you got was a lecture from the school nurse on the value of your purity." Jeremy leaned down and kissed her neck. "I couldn't exactly tell them that neither one of us were pure, so I had to take the detention and let you get the lecture."

Bella laughed, "I'm starting to think you enjoy having detention."

"There are a lot of things I enjoy more than detention." Jeremy replied with a smirk.

-Page Break-

Bella brushed her fingers through Jeremy's hair as they sat outside on the grass of the school. She had changed Patty a week ago. The poor girl had gotten sick and Bella knew that in the state she was in the there was a low chance of her pulling through. In an attempt she had taken her to the hospital and the news she had gotten had made them all go pale. She was more than just sick, she was terminally ill, with the doctors only giving her months to live. It was then that Bella had decided it was time to put the offer on the table.

Bella had sat Patty down in the kitchen being sure that everyone else was out of the house. She explained that she was willing to turn her but she needed her permission first. Most of all, Bella needed to know that Patty understood what was going to happen to her. Patty had agreed eagerly confessing to Bella that in the short few months they had been there that she had fallen in love with Trevor.

Bella could only smiled and the following day when she bit into Patty and let her venom begin the transition, she noticed that Trevor loved her too. He didn't remove himself from her side at all. David had stayed in the room as well as soon as Patty had agreed he had asked to be changed too.

Bella had changed David that morning, as Patty wanted to be at her brother's side like he was for her. She and Jeremy had come to school for the sake of not looking suspicious the five of them being gone for a week wasn't going to go unnoticed by school officials. But they all knew that within the week they would all disappear from this town without a glance back. Heading to a new town, or maybe just heading somewhere to spend a few months just living.

Bella moved and sat in Jeremy's lap, "What do you say to heading somewhere with a lot of snow?"

Jeremy looked at her with a questioning look. "You hate the cold." He stated as he held her close enjoying the way her hands went through his hair.

"I know." Bella replied with a smirk. "But I suppose it's fine if I get to be with you. Not to mention that we really don't get affected by the temperatures so it's no big deal. I figured we could go somewhere with a lot of wildlife, and maybe you can teach me how to snow board."

Jeremy laughed, "Like how I tried to teach you to play hockey? Or basketball, tennis, baseball, softball, and football. You do remember all those times right? You're very competitive, Isa. And though I love you for it, I don't think you should do be doing many athletic related activities."

Bella smiled, "It's not my fault I'm competitive, it's the alpha peeking through." She sighed as she knew Jeremy had a point. She was too competitive to take part in any sort of sport. "Fine, no snowboarding. I've never built a snowman before, you know."

Jeremy grinned, his hand found its way to Bella's hair and he smirked. "Well, we just can't have that now, can we?" He said as he tugged her head down and met her lips halfway. He used the hand that wasn't tangled in her hair to rest on her hip. He brought her in closer leaning up so he could deepen the kiss between him. He smiled against the kiss as Bella's hands were in his hair tugging him closer.

"Jeremy." A voice said breaking him and Bella apart.

Jeremy kept his hands on Bella's hip keeping her on his lap. He looked over her shoulder and sighed, "Principal Bert." Jeremy replied with a frown as it bothered him that every time he kissed Bella Bert always seemed to be there to pester him about it. "I assume you're going to demand I go to your office and have another one of those special talks between you and me?"

Principal Bert nodded, "I think you need another talk with the Nurse, Isabella."

Bella smiled and stood straightening out her shirt. "I don't think that's necessary, principal. There's no purity that needs to be saved, there hasn't been for some time now to be truthful." Bella replied ignoring the surprised look on the principal's face as this was the first time she ever responded. She smiled as Jeremy stood, she leaned up and pecked him on the lips. "I have to get to class." She said before she disappeared.

Jeremy smirked at the principal. "My girl… she's just wonderful don't you think? So, are we going to have this talk again, or can I go after her?"

"I think our talks need to get more serious in order for you to understand the meaning behind them." The principal said pinching the bridge of his nose with a sigh. "You know the way to my office."

Jeremy smirked, "Of course I do, Bert, I practically have my own chair there."

-Page Break-

Jeremy grabbed Bella lifting her up over his head before he threw her into a large pile of snow. He laughed as she glared at him. "You okay, Isa?" He teased as he stepped back. "You're starting to look a little cold there."

Bella stood and glared at Jeremy, they had somehow wandered into an empty patch of snow somewhere in the woods of Canada. They had come to hunt, but they got too distracted once they had finally been alone. This was the first time they were alone ever since the entire group of dragons had gathered to meet the two new additions to the family. Klaus had even stopped by to say hello. Bella brushed the snow off her shoulder, "I'm going to get you back for that."

Jeremy smirked, "I was hoping you would." He taunted, he watched as she charged at him, he willingly let her tackle him to the ground. He put his arms around her keeping her there with him. "Even when I lose, I win."

Bella laughed, "We should probably get on with our hunt."

Jeremy shook his head, "We have plenty of time to do that, but this," He said gesturing around them, "Messing around in the snow in the middle of nowhere, is a rarity we must take advantage of."

Bella smirked, "Well, if it's a rarity than I guess we can't let it get away."

"I'm glad you see it my way." Jeremy said as he tangled his hand in her hair and brought her down so their lips could meet. He held her close as he deepened the kiss between them. He pulled her closer to him as he quickly reversed their position so that he lay on top of her.

Just as their kiss was close to getting too heated, there was a loud clearing of a throat and a few awkward coughs following. Jeremy pulled back and groaned as he rested his forehead against Bella's. "You have to be _kidding_ me."

Bella laughed, she looked over Jeremy's shoulders and immediately stiffened as she saw two golden pairs of eyes she never thought she'd see again. "Cullens'."

Jeremy stood up knowing this wasn't going to be the best thing to happen on the trip. He held out his hand and pulled Bella up. He placed his arm around her waist and looked on at the two creatures in front of him. "I swear you better have a good reason for interrupting us or I'll rip your sparkling heads right off. What the hell are you doing here?"

Bella smirked, "I'm a bit curious about the answer to that myself."

"We heard your voice, we thought it sounded it familiar. We just never thought it'd actually be you. It's nice to see you again, Bella." Jasper said with a curt nod.

Jeremy turned to Bella. "Am I invisible? Or is he just pretending I'm not standing directly beside you?"

Bella smiled, "Jasper, Emmett, this is my husband, Jeremy."

"Husband?" Emmett questioned looking at Jeremy in disbelief, he turned back to Bella. "Really?"

Jeremy growled loudly catching both the diamond's attention. "Yes you asshole! See the matching rings? The matching bite-marks on our necks… I think it's pretty obvious."

Bella smiled she pressed her hand to Jeremy's back. He knew his emotions elevated every time someone even hinted at doubting their relationship, and she understood that sometimes she just had to let him air it out. "We've been married for a few years now. It was a lovely ceremony. My dad was there, and our family as well. It was a day I'll never forget."

Jeremy looked down at her and smiled widely at the memory. "You look stunning in your dress, just like you always do." He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. He turned around in annoyance to the two in front of him. "Are we done here? I'd really like to get back to what we were doing before you interrupted us."

"It's too late now," Bella piped in, she smiled up at Jeremy. "We still have to hunt, normally I'd say we can wait a bit, but I'm really starving."

Jeremy chuckled, "I suppose it is time that we do what we came out here to do… originally."

"Umm, Bells." Emmett said softly.

Bella growled loudly. "Isabella. You can call me Isabella." She straightened out and noticed when Jeremy stood behind her keeping his hands at her hips. His silent support for her. "I am not Bella Swan, I haven't been for a very long time. Whatever relationship I had with your family previously in the past is gone." She turned to Jeremy and with a simple nod the two of them disappeared.

Jeremy smiled as Bella had climbed onto his back and wrapped herself around him as soon as they were finished hunting. "Thinking hard about something, Isa?"

"I wanted to rip their heads off." Bella whispered.

Jeremy chuckled, "I did too, so why didn't we?"

"Because I'm not in the mood to kill. We came here to relax, to let things settle and killing them would have just made things messy. Though, I do feel like in a few weeks from now we should find them and then kill them." Bella said with a smile.

"I'll help you do whatever you want, Isa." Jeremy replied with a smile. He walked at a normal pace back to the house they were renting while they were here. "What do you say if we go skiing tomorrow?"

"I thought you said I was too competitive to do any snow sports?" Bella teased as she nuzzled her head into his neck letting his scent wash over her.

Jeremy smiled, "You are too competitive, but this is just what I'm going to tell everyone so that they can all get down the mountain and then you and I will sneak off."

Bella smiled, "Sounds like a perfect plan, I just hope we don't get interrupted again."

"Speaking of, what are you going to do knowing they're in the same area as us? You and I both know that now that they know you're here it's bound to spread to their family and they could all come looking for you." Jeremy said in a serious tone as the thought of all of them coming to look for Bella had him on edge.

"I guess I'll just have to warn everyone." Bella responded, "I'll make sure everyone is on alert, I don't want the Cullens sneaking up on any of us. I was really hoping to go the rest of my existence without seeing them again. It sucks that they decided to appear now of all times."

"I'm more than happy to get rid of them for you." Jeremy replied with a smile. "I'm sure your dad would just love to join me."

"I might take you up on that offer." Bella whispered as she kissed his neck softly.

-Page Break-

Jeremy grinned as Bella was leading him into the town stating there was something he needed to see. It had been a few days since the appearance of two of the Cullen's, but they hadn't been spotted since then. Although the chances were low, they hoped they wouldn't be seeing them again anytime soon. "Where are we going?" Jeremy said as he followed after Bella.

"They're having a fireworks show in town." Bella responded, "Everyone is coming to see it, but I wanted just a few moments alone with you."

Jeremy smiled, "How far ahead of them are we?"

"Not by much, I'd say 5-10 minutes." Bella replied with a smirk. "But I figured that was enough for us to at least be able to make out for a while."

Jeremy laughed, "It's enough." He agreed, he pulled her to him and pushed her against a wall as his lips found hers. They were just outside of where the fireworks would be taking place, so he knew when the time came they could just slip into the crowd with everyone else.

"I thought we've had this conversation before," A voice said approaching the two a few minutes later. "I rather not see my daughter in this position no matter how old and powerful she is."

Jeremy groaned as he pulled back and glared at Klaus. "Really, man?" Jeremy said with a groan. "You could've walked around or headed in the other direction."

Klaus chuckled, "Yes I could've, but I thought this was the better way to do things. I also felt like mentioning that if you weren't busy being distracted by each other you would've caught the sickly sweet scent that's in the air."

Bella sighed, "Cullens." She said she leaned forward and rested her head on Jeremy's shoulder. "That's it, we have to take care of this sooner rather than later. I don't want them ever interrupting us again."

Jeremy smirked, "It's getting to you too?"

Bella laughed and shrugged her shoulders. "Just a little bit."

"Well, let's get this show started." Klaus said walking forward. "If they provoke me I won't be responsible for my actions."

Jeremy grinned, "I'm with him, I'm not responsible for my actions if they say or do something stupid."

Bella smiled, "I'd be surprised if you didn't do something." She replied she took his hand in hers and walked after her father. She stood amongst her dragons, her family, and watched as the fireworks lit up the sky. She smiled as Jeremy put his arms around her and pulled her to his chest as the show continued on.

"What are they having fireworks for?" Bella questioned as she looked up at the sky knowing it wasn't the fourth of July so she couldn't grasp the reason for the celebration.

"This town is like Mystic Falls, they celebrate every little thing here." Jeremy responded with a smile. "I wouldn't be surprised if this is how they celebrate the mayor's birthday around here."

Bella laughed, "I think it has to be something a little more important than that."

"Hate to interrupt the intellectual conversation between the two of you, but I see seven frozen creatures heading this way." Klaus said gesturing to the direction of the Cullens. Bella turned and stiffened in Jeremy's arms, she took her eyes away from the seven approaching and noticed that her dragons had also become tense. As per instructions none of them were making a move to attack just yet.

Bella straightened out her shoulders, and stood taller as the people she once considered a family came closer. She looked out from the corner of her eye to see her dad had moved to stand at her side. She was prepared for anything they had to say to her, but most of all she was prepared to see Edward. She knew this time it would be nothing like it was when she saw him in Alaska. This time she knew there were no more feelings for him. She didn't hold any inkling of love towards him and she knew that it was because of Jeremy. All her love went to him no matter how hard Edward could try there would be nothing that could come between her and Jeremy.

"Bella!" Alice squealed as soon as gold eyes met brown.

Bella took a step back and shook her head as the pixie like diamond approached her with arms open ready to engulf her in a hug. "Don't take a step closer." Bella smiled as Jeremy's hands came down to rest on her hips. The small gesture keeping her balanced and clearing her mind.

"Bella…" Alice practically whimpered, she took a step back and was met by Jasper wrapping his arms around her.

"It's so good to see you again," Esme said with a bright smile. "I thought I'd never get to see my sweet girl again. You look just as beautiful as I remember you to be."

Bella rolled her eyes, "I'm not your anything. Don't pretend to be my mother, I don't need one." She gestured to Klaus. "I already have a dad for eternity, I don't need an overbearing, hypocritical, ignorant mother."

"Bella!" Carsile reprimanded as he saw the way the words hurt his mate.

Bella growled, "Don't you ever call me that again. None of you have any right to call me Bella. My _name_ is Isabella and I expect you all to refer to me by it." Bella looked around as the humans were now starting to pay more attention to them rather than the fireworks. "The humans are looking this way, we're creating a bit of a show. Let's move this somewhere elsewhere, the last thing I need is human involvement."

Bella turned around and with the wave of her hand she sent a silent signal and all her dragons walked off. She followed after them hearing the footsteps of the Cullens behind her. There was no way she was going to walk in front of her dragons and leave them with the Cullen's following after them. To her it was like she were leaving them open for an attack and that was the last thing she wanted.

Bella smiled as all her dragons stopped in a clearing. They spread out each of them forming a barrier around part of the field. She moved and stood in the middle facing the Cullens. She reached over and took Jeremy's hand, she needed them to know she didn't need them. She needed them to know that Jeremy was more important than any of them could ever be to her. She glanced over at her dad and a smile made its way onto her face as she saw his calm exterior. The small smirk on his face the only indication that he was feeling amused by the diamond's in front of him and their so called _family_.

"I guess you all came to find me to talk, so let's talk, but I'll go first. I want to say my peace before any of you start." Bella said with a deep breath she squared her shoulders and looked at each of the Cullens. Her eyes landed lastly on Edward and she had to stop herself from scoffing at the look of hurt on his face.

"We haven't seen each other in decades and I'm sure you can all understand that I'm not the same person I was when we met. Firstly, as you can tell I'm not human anymore. In truth, I'm far from human and am part of a species far greater than yours. This being said any of you threaten me or my family." Bella said gesturing to the dragons behind her. "I'll have to retaliate and I can promise it will be brutal and if you could bleed it would be bloody"

"Secondly, I am nothing to any of you." Bella said she looked pointedly at Edward when she said this. "I haven't been anything to any of you in a very longtime. I've moved on. I have a family and a husband, all of whom are very important to me. I don't want to have any problems with you, but I will destroy you if you pose any threat to me or my family. I can't stress this enough, and I feel like some of you are going to be very stubborn on this subject, so I'll repeat myself. I am nothing to your family, just like you are nothing to me. If it makes it easier for any of you, take this as being the first time we've ever met and call me Isabella. We will most likely never have any sort of friendly relationship, but I'm sure we can tolerate being in the same state as one another. If not, I'm asking you to leave and don't look back."

"Why should we be the ones to leave? As far as I'm concerned this is fair territory and who are you to decide that we shouldn't be here?" Esme questioned as she was now filled with anger towards Bella.

Esme stepped back as there was a united growl from the dragons directed at her.

Bella smirked, "I think the fact that we were here first should be reason enough, but if it's not we're willing to fight you for it."

Jeremy chuckled, he leaned down and kissed Bella's neck. "Now, that would be unfair, Isa. We both know the fight would be over in minutes. Hopefully they'll leave easily and they can still walk away with their pride… or what little is left of it."

Bella and Jeremy's heads both snapped to the large growl that filled the air. Both of them were met with the image of a fuming Edward. His hands were clenched tightly and his eyes were staring down at Jeremy with a murderous glint in his eyes. "You can't be serious about this Bella."

Jeremy's growl was mixed with Bella's as they both glared at Edward. "I thought she made it clear that you weren't meant to call her that." Jeremy said through gritted teeth as he finally got to see Edward. His hand practically trembled as the need to hit him, to make him pay for ever hurting his mate, flowed through him.

Bella stiffened at Edward's gaze. "If you're referring to my marriage to Jeremy, I'm completely serious about it. He's my mate, Edward, I'm sure you can understand what that means. We're going to be together forever and there is nothing you or your family can do to change that. You no longer mean anything to me, Edward. You're just someone from my human days, someone I choose to live without. I'd also be careful if I were you. I may not kill you, but Jeremy will, and I won't try to stop him when he goes after you. You and I ended a long time ago Edward, what you say or what you think no longer means anything to me."

Edward growled again this time he pushed past his brothers and moved forward. "You are _my_ mate. You don't belong with him and you know it! You and I have were always meant to be together. You need to let go of this childish behavior you have and you need to understand that you belong with me and my family." His voice softened as he met Bella's gaze. "I love you, Bella. I always have and I always will. We can be together again, it'll be like nothing ever changed. I'm ready to be with you forever. Leave all these strangers behind and come with me and our family."

Bella shook her head a smirk came upon her face as she looked at Edward. "These people are not strangers, Edward, they're my family, my species. I won't choose you over them." Bella stepped away from Jeremy, she looked to Jeremy. "Have at it, he's obviously not going to listen. He's only going to be a problem now that he knows I'm alive."

Jeremy smirked widely. "Finally!" He rushed over to Edward and hit him square in the jaw knocking him down to the ground. Bella sighed as the rest of the Cullens went to help Edward she shook her head and in a heartbeat she saw her dragons take that as an invitation to fight. She stepped back with her dad as all her dragons took on their forms. She could practically smell the fear coming from the Cullens.

Bella shook her head as she saw most of her dragons weren't fighting but were gathering the limbs being torn off the Cullens and were playing with them before throwing them into the fire.

"I'll be back in a second." Klaus said as he walked towards Jeremy and Edward.

Bella rolled her eyes. She leaned against the tree and watched the events occurring in front of her. Something about watching her family tear apart her former family made her smile. It was the physical visualization of seeing her new life, the new her, destroy her former life, the old her.

She could see this was the finale. This was her past being put to rest once and for all. She couldn't help the grin from her face as she saw Jeremy laugh as Klaus said something just as he tore off Edward's arm. Everything was falling into place. Her dragons were growing becoming stronger, their existence no longer being a myth. Other creatures were beginning to learn the truth and were beginning to see them for who they are, the strongest creatures the world has ever known. Her father and her mate got along, she could now say they were practically best friends. Everything just seemed right.

With the Cullens no longer a worry in the back of her mind she knew what was to come would only get better. She watched as the purple smoke mixed with the dark colors of the sky. If it weren't for her perfect sight she wouldn't be able to see it mix into the air, swirling around letting other creatures know there was a fight here tonight. One in which an entire family met their demise, but not a single part of her could feel sad, instead she felt a sense of happiness. She knew now they were gone and they wouldn't be an obstacle for her to deal with later on.

She tilted her head as Jeremy appeared and wrapped his arms around her kissing her cheek sweetly as he too looked up into the sky. "You think the humans will know something happened?"

Bella shook her head, "The fireworks have all the attention, they'll never know something happened here. Did you enjoy yourself?" She questioned with a smirk.

"Immensely," Jeremy replied with a grin. "It was fun. Everyone is planning on heading back to the festivities in town. Your dad is going to go with them, this giving us about two hours before they all start to head home. What do you say we sneak away? I figured we could find a hot springs or something with water so I can get rid of this awful stench and you could join me in the water?"

Bella smiled widely. "That sounds awesome, hopefully we won't get interrupted this time."

"Doesn't matter if we do." Jeremy replied as he took her hand and led her away. "No way am I stopping this time."

Bella laughed, she moved and jumped on his back wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her head on his shoulder. "I love you." She whispered into his ear.

"I love you, Isa." Jeremy replied he turned his head and kissed her lightly. "I'll love you forever and always."

Bella smiled she rested her head against him and closed her eyes. She felt freer than she had before, now she knew her past truly was put to rest and there was no better feeling than knowing that it was no longer going to be an issue. All she had to think about now was the future, and she knew no matter what may come she would always have Jeremy with her and that was the best thing she could've ever ask for.


End file.
